The U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Emil Bove, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for a prestigious judicial role, in a 50-49 vote late July 29, dismissing multiple whistleblower complaints about Bove’s conduct as a top Justice Department official.
The vote unfolded almost entirely along party lines. Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joined all of the Senate’s Democrats in opposition.
Bove is now set to be sworn in to his new role on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which handles federal appeals for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Bove, a former personal criminal defense lawyer for Trump, overcame multiple accusations from whistleblowers that he had suggested the Trump administration defy court orders if necessary and misled Congress while serving as a top official within Trump’s Justice Department. Bove will now shift from that prosecutorial role to the appeals court.
Bove defended his integrity at his Senate confirmation hearing, saying he has honored his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and has a “deep respect for the rule of law.”
Here’s what whistleblowers said ahead of Bove’s confirmation:
Whistleblower accusation #1: Ignoring court orders?
Shortly before the Senate Judiciary Committee considered Bove’s nomination June 25, a whistleblower – former Justice Department prosecutor Erez Reuveni – alleged that Bove advocated at a March 14 meeting for the department to ignore court orders if necessary to make sure deportation flights took off.
“Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts ‘f— you’ and ignore any such court order,” according to Reuveni’s June 24 whistleblower disclosure.
At his confirmation hearing, Bove said he “did not suggest that there would be any need to consider ignoring court orders,” adding that there were no court orders in place at the time of the meeting.
Bove said he couldn’t remember if he instructed his subordinates to say “f— you” to courts in some manner, but that he has “certainly said things encouraging litigators at the department to fight hard for valid positions.”
Reuveni was fired in April, after he raised concerns to his chain of command “for nearly three weeks regarding the government’s compliance with court orders and candor to the courts,” according to the disclosure.
While Democrats sounded the alarm, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said June 25 that Reuveni’s allegations weren’t a cause for concern.
“Even if we accept most of the claims as true, there’s no scandal here,” Grassley said. “Government lawyers aggressively litigating and interpreting court orders isn’t misconduct. It’s what lawyers do all the time.”
Another whistleblower later came forward to corroborate claims from Reuveni. The person, whose identity has remained shielded, provided internal Justice Department documents supporting Reuveni’s allegations, according to Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit that represents the whistleblower.
Whistleblower accusation #2: Misleading Congress on Eric Adams case?
Another whistleblower, whose identity hasn’t been publicly disclosed, came forward to allege Bove misled Congress during his Senate confirmation, according to reports from the Washington Post and CNN. The testimony concerned the circumstances behind the Justice Department dropping its criminal bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Bove directed prosecutors to drop the case after Trump took office, saying the prosecution was restricting Adams’ ability to focus on illegal immigration and violent crime.
At his confirmation hearing, Bove denied allegations that he negotiated a “quid pro quo” – meaning an exchange of favors – with Adams’ lawyers, under which the Justice Department would drop the charges. Bove also denied instructing a lawyer to stop taking notes when Adams’ lawyers allegedly urged a quid-pro-quo deal, although Bove said at some point he did remark on a lawyer taking extensive notes.
Several Justice Department prosecutors resigned rather than follow Bove’s orders to drop the Adams case, which has nonetheless been dismissed.
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment about whether Bove misled Congress. Gates McGavick, a department spokesperson, responded in the Washington Post’s July 28 story that Bove has done “incredible work at the Department of Justice” and was going to be “an excellent judge.”
Justice Connection, an organization composed of Justice Department alumni concerned that their former colleagues are under attack in the Trump administration, put out a statement that was short on specifics, but said the whistleblower “has strong evidence that Emil Bove was not truthful” during his confirmation hearing. The whistleblower tried to share the information with Republican senators for weeks, according to the statement.
Contributing: Erin Mansfield and Bart Jansen – USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What whistleblowers said about incoming Trump judge Emil Bove
