Trump lawyer Bove gets 3rd Circuit backing as Democrats walk out

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced, 12-0, the nomination of Emil Bove for an appeals court post Thursday after Democrats walked out of the vote for a controversial figure in the administration’s aggressive shake up of the Justice Department.

Republicans brushed past outrage from Democrats over accusations that Bove participated in Donald Trump’s reshaping of the Justice Department and in an effort intended to undermine court rulings against the administration over deportation efforts. The committee also advanced several nominees to the federal bench and U.S. attorney posts, in which Democrats also did not vote.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, defended Bove and criticized the “unfair rhetoric and treatment” from Democrats on the panel. Grassley criticized a whistleblower report over Bove’s actions, said that it did not follow the proper procedure for the issue, or justify an additional hearing on Bove’s nomination.

“What we’re witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job with maximum media exposure and minimum substance,” Grassley said.

Grassley characterized Bove as a qualified nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Virgin Islands. Republicans control 53 seats in the chamber and would have to lose support from four of their members to sink Bove’s nomination if the Democrats all vote against him.

Democrats didn’t vote on the Bove nomination or any of the others advanced Thursday after Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., protested Grassley moving forward on the nomination rather than holding a vote on a second hearing for Bove or allowing all Democrats on the panel to speak.

“Have at least the decency to have a vote on my point of order,” Booker said, speaking over the votes. “We just want to be heard before a controversial vote. Sir, this is wrong and you know it.”

Bove’s work as Trump’s personal defense attorney and his tenure at the Justice Department have made him the most controversial judicial nominee of Trump’s second term so far.

Those tensions were on display Thursday as Democrats first refused to vote on any nominees and eventually left the meeting. Ranking member Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., criticized Bove’s actions at the DOJ, including a “corrupt bargain” to drop a federal corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Durbin also emphasized a whistleblower report from former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, who came forward ahead of Bove’s confirmation hearing.

In a letter to the committee, Reuveni laid out his allegations, saying that in a March meeting over planned deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, Bove “stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what” and that the DOJ “would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you'” if ordered to stop deportations.

Bove denied ever having instructed Justice Department staff to ignore a court order, which was not an accusation included in Reuveni’s letter.

Democrats requested an additional hearing on the allegations. Booker attempted to force a vote to hold a hearing Thursday, which Grassley ruled out of order.

Grassley said his staff had reviewed the documents disclosed by Reuveni and interviewed attendees at the March meeting Reuveni discussed and said they did not substantiate Reuveni’s claims. Grassley’s explanation of his investigation did not include a refutation of Bove’s comment about ignoring the courts.

Bove was defense counsel for Trump in several criminal cases. That included the federal criminal cases against Trump and the New York state case in which Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts tied to falsified business records for hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Since joining the Justice Department as a principal associate deputy attorney general, Bove participated in the firing or reassignment of prosecutors involved in working on cases tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Bove also personally intervened in the Justice Department’s effort to drop a public corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Durbin also criticized Bove’s role in firing Jan. 6 prosecutors, who Bove described as enacting a “grave injustice” to the public, saying Bove’s actions were a “disgusting insult to law enforcement” who protect the Capitol.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that he did not see Bove’s acts as equivalent to his “red line” for those who excused violence against police on Jan. 6. Tillis’ public opposition to another nominee, U.S. attorney nominee Ed Martin, resulted in his nomination being withdrawn earlier this year.

“The fact of the matter is, I can’t find one piece of evidence where he said the violent acts against police officers were ok,” Tillis said.

Bove would serve in a seat left open after the end of the Biden administration, when the nomination of Adeel Mangi expired at the end of the last Congress.

The committee also advanced the nominations of four of Trump’s appointments to federal courts in Florida and that of former state judge and Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Pirro is currently the acting U.S. Attorney in the role, and was chosen after the withdrawal of the nomination of Ed Martin.