915 former Justice Dept. lawyers urge the Senate not to confirm Emil Bove as a federal appeals judge.

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07/17/us/trump-news-updates#justice-dept-lawyers-emil-bove-federal-judge

More than 900 former Justice Department lawyers have signed a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing “deep concern” about the nomination of Emil Bove III, a senior Justice Department official, to serve as a federal appeals judge.

In the letter, dated Wednesday, the former department lawyers suggested that Mr. Bove had disgraced the department during his half-year tenure there, and that his confirmation would be “intolerable.”

The letter also mentioned Mr. Bove’s decision to dismiss corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams of New York (the interim Manhattan U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, resigned rather than sign off on Mr. Bove’s directive), and his role in firing prosecutors who had worked on cases involving the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mr. Bove, a former criminal defense lawyer for Mr. Trump who is now the top deputy to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, was accused in the whistle-blower complaint last month of having told subordinates that he was willing to ignore court orders to fulfill Mr. Trump’s sweeping deportation campaign.

The former lawyers said that few actions would cause greater damage to the rule of law than a senior official in the executive branch flouting the authority of the judiciary. They argued that Mr. Bove’s leadership had undermined the work of the Justice Department.

“Mr. Bove’s trampling over institutional norms in this case, and in others, sent shock waves through the ranks — cratering morale, triggering mass departures, and eroding the effectiveness of DOJ’s vital work,” the letter said.

The letter on Wednesday was addressed to Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee’s top Democrat.

In moving ahead with plans for a vote to advance the nomination, Mr. Grassley has said that he respects whistle-blowers but that he does not believe evidence of misconduct by Mr. Bove has been substantiated.

...

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Emil Bove will be confirmed by the Republican Senate.

The tyrant must be obeyed

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Doesn't matter. The 'king' gas deemed his appointment.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. nine HUNDRED former DOJ lawyers all signed this letter opposing Emil Bove's nomination to be an appellate federal judge?

I'm sorry, nine HUNDRED former DOJ lawyers all signed this letter opposing Emil Bove's nomination to be an appellate federal judge?

900?!

— Jose Pagliery (@josepagliery.bsky.social) 2025-07-16T18:04:26.354Z

[bdamomma]

3. Grassley

had been kissing the ring of the felon tyrant for a long time now. Traitors all.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Maddow Blog-Republicans shrug off laundry list of scandals, advance Emil Bove's judicial nomination

Bove is arguably the single-most controversial circuit court nominee in modern American history. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee didn’t care.

By some measures, Emil Bove, a former Trump defense attorney, is one of the most controversial circuit court nominees in modern American history, opposed by several dozen former judges and 900+ former DOJ lawyers.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee didn’t care.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-17T15:09:18.340Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/emil-bove-trump-judge-nomination-senate-republicans-rcna218833

That didn’t happen. NBC News reported:

A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley says that Bove’s nomination had been reported out of committee to the full Senate, even though Democrats on the committee walked out in protest of the lack of debate and the refusal to hold a vote on whether to hold a hearing with a whistleblower before they voted.

Shortly before the vote, the panel's Democratic members walked out of the hearing room in protest, with Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey describing the process as "insane."
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:h7qtoo7nxqxarrsijohjhbw4/post/3lu6bvfc3oc2c

Link to tweet

In fact, after the committee's Republicans voted in support of Bove, members of the Democratic minority, led by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, suggested the issue of whether Bove was actually reported out was still an open question and may be referred to the Senate parliamentarian because, as Democrats argued, Republicans broke procedural rules.......

Just as importantly, if not more so, Erez Reuveni, a 15-year veteran Justice Department prosecutor, recently came forward as a whistleblower to tell senators that Bove repeatedly endorsed ignoring court orders and deliberately misleading judges. In a case involving the Alien Enemies Act and the administration’s alleged violation of a court order regarding deportation flights, Reuveni also described a meeting during which Bove “stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts ‘f--- you’ and ignore any such court order.”.....

Bove’s nomination now advances to the Senate floor for confirmation. To defeat him, four GOP senators would have to break ranks with the party, which seems unlikely. Watch this space.

trump is looking to appoint Bove to the SCOTUS when either Alito or Thomas retires