Senate confirms Emil Bove to appeals court despite whistleblower complaints, controversy
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Emil Bove to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, launching President Trump’s former personal lawyer to a lifetime appointment on the bench amid a series of whistleblower complaints about his conduct.
Bove, currently in the No. 3 role at the Justice Department, is the subject of three different complaints in recent weeks, with two alleging he suggested violating court orders and a third saying he reportedly misled Congress on the dropping of bribery charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams (D).
His nomination was confirmed with a 50-49 vote, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) crossing the aisle to join all Democrats in opposing his nomination.
"They reward a man, credibly accused of wanting to lie to judges, with a black robe and gavel of his own," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the floor after the vote.
"And they're confirming him for one reason only: Mr. Bove is loyal to Donald Trump, therefore Donald Trump wants him on the bench. The calculus is as simple as that."
Democrats were quick to point out the speed of Bove’s consideration as his nomination was scheduled for a Tuesday night vote.
“What will come out next about Bove? That's precisely the problem with this disaster of a nominee. And why Senate Republicans are rushing through his nomination. Before more disqualifying information can come out,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a Tuesday post on X.
Bove has been dogged by whistleblower complaints since his June confirmation hearing, something Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the panel, said came as those around Bove “step forward and risk their own careers to tell the truth.”
Whistleblower Erez Reuveni alleged Bove suggested the Justice Department defy any court orders blocking the Trump administration from deporting migrants to a foreign prison under the Alien Enemies Act, saying DOJ might have to tell the courts “f–- you.”
Reuveni was fired after his candor in a related case, telling a judge that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported due to an administrative error.
His complaint details his confusion as he received largely silence as he sought to update the administration on a court order to halt or turn around any flights.
Instead, some 200 Venezuelan men were brought to a megaprison in El Salvador, and a judge has since ignited a review after finding probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying his order.
A second whistleblower has stepped forward with information they say corroborates Reuveni’s allegations.
Bove has said he could not recall whether he used the expletive but said during his confirmation hearing that he “certainly conveyed the importance of the upcoming operation.”
A third whistleblower has forwarded new allegations about Bove’s role in ending the prosecution of New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) on bribery charges, according to reporting from The Washington Post.
Sources told The Hill that the information called into question Bove’s truthfulness with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Prosecutors who worked the case refused to drop the charges and sign onto the dismissal notice, prompting a wave of resignations.
Bove said during his confirmation hearing that the Trump administration needed Adams’s cooperation on immigration matters, prompting cries from Democrats that the move was a clear quid pro quo.
“Policy reasons made it appropriate to drop the charges,” Bove said at the time.
Durbin, speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, said the admission was a quid pro quo.
“[Bove] personally led the Administration’s attempt to strike a corrupt bargain with New York City Mayor Eric Adams by offering to drop his pending prosecution in exchange for Mayor Adams’ cooperation on President Trump’s immigration policies. Get that straight," he said.
"Investigations of corruption on the mayor of New York City, the response from the Trump Administration, from Mr. Emil Bove was, we’ll cut a deal with you. We won’t prosecute you if you promise to play ball with us when it comes to mass deportations,” Durbin said.
Beyond the whistleblower complaints, Bove has also come under fire for leading the effort to dismiss prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases and collecting a list of FBI agents who worked on investigations into rioters.
But Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) blasted the whistleblowers for making disclosures at critical moments in Bove’s nomination process.
“Like clockwork, just before a hearing on a vote, we get another breathless accusation that one of President Trump's nominees needs to be -- you guessed it -- investigated,” he said, referring to a Tuesday letter from Schiff alongside Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
"The vicious rhetoric, unfair accusations, and abuse directed at Mr. Bove by some on this committee, it has crossed the line.”
He went on to praise Bove’s qualifications.
“I support the nomination of Mr. Bove. He has a strong legal background, and has served his country honorably. I believe he will be diligent, capable, and a fair jurist. My Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee agree, and that's why he was reported out of committee with every Republican supporting his nomination,” he said.
Justice Connection, a group of DOJ alumni that has worked with some of the whistleblowers, pushed back on claims they unfairly targeted Bove.
"Emil Bove has been the enforcer of many of the attacks on DOJ and its employees. By confirming his nomination the Senate condoned the devastation he unleashed on the department," the group's founder Stacy Young said in a statement.
"Multiple whistleblowers stepped forward to bear witness to his destruction of constitutional principles and institutional guardrails. Some senators unfairly criticized and discounted their claims, but history will honor their courage."
Updated at 10:17 p.m. EDT