Bove Nomination Opposed by Judges Who Sat on the Same Bench (1)

Two retired members of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit are among more than 75 former federal and state judges opposing Emil Bove’s nomination to that court just as he’s secured support from a key Republican senator toward confirmation.

“Mr. Bove’s egregious record of mistreating law enforcement officers, abusing power, and disregarding the law itself disqualifies him for this position,” Timothy K. Lewis, Thomas I. Vanaskie, and the other ex jurists said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The top deputy to Justice Department second-in-command Todd Blanche has faced scrutiny for his decision to investigate FBI officials and direct the firing of Washington prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases, and his move to drop criminal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The former judges also note a recent whistleblower complaint from a fired Justice Department lawyer alleging Bove suggested the department not follow court orders against the administration’s deportation policy.

“Elevating a nominee whose record reflects a pattern of misconduct, disregard for lawful authority, and political entanglement would not only compromise the integrity of the courts, but it would also set a dangerous precedent that judicial power may be wielded in service of personal fealty rather than constitutional duty,” the group said.

Bove has repeatedly denied accusations of misconduct and corruption while serving in the Justice Department during his confirmation process for a New Jersey seat on the Third Circuit.

The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on his nomination July 17 with Republicans holding a 12-10 majority on the panel.

Senator Support

Prospects of the nomination advancing to the floor got a boost when Judiciary Committee member Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he’d vote in his favor.

“I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t support him,” Tillis, who’s been a swing vote on Trump initiatives, told Bloomberg Law.

Tillis has said that he wouldn’t support nominees who expressed support for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That rationale sank Ed Martin’s nomination to be Washington’s top prosecutor, after he’d been serving as the interim.

Bove said during his confirmation hearing that he continues to “to condemn unlawful behavior, particularly violence against law enforcement. At the same time, I condemn heavy handed and unnecessary tactics by prosecutors and agents,” in reference to the Jan. 6 prosecutions.

Tillis said his focus has been on those “who thought there was a rational basis for what occurred” on Jan. 6. “There was none of that. You can talk about overprosecution—that’s fair.”

The former jurists also said it’s “deeply inappropriate” for Trump to nominate his former personal attorney for a lifetime judgeship, “especially when that president has said he is nominating judges based on whether they will be more loyal to him than to the country.”

They cite Trump’s Truth Social post in which the president said Bove would “do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT.”

“That statement underscores the peril of confirming a nominee whose principal qualification appears to be personal loyalty to the president,” the retired judges said.

Whistleblower Complaint

The Senate also has a duty, the ex-judges said, to hear testimony from whistleblower Erez Reuveni, who alleges that Bove said at a meeting that the government “would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore any such court order.”

Reuveni, a veteran litigator for the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, has since provided communications reinforcing his allegations.

Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) declined the request by Democrats for a second hearing on the Bove nomination to hear testimony from Reuveni on the allegations.

“There is no doubt that members of this Committee have had a full and fair opportunity to address the issues you raise,” Grassley said in a letter to his colleagues, citing the length of Bove’s confirmation hearing and his 165 pages of written responses to additional questions.

Judiciary Committee Democrats have been staunch critics of Bove and his circuit nomination, while Republicans have called the opposition “manufactured outrage.”

Bove previously worked as a prosecutor handling national security for the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. He later worked at Blanche’s firm, where he represented Trump against federal charges that he mishandled classified documents and tried to obstruct the 2020 presidential election. Bove also represented Trump in his New York state trial on fraud charges related to hush-money payments, where Trump was found guilty.

Trump appointed four members to the Third Circuit in his first term, and his next one will tilt the evenly divided active bench to a majority of judges appointed by Republican presidents.