Emil Bove confirmed to Third Circuit seat under cloud of allegations

In the face of strident objections from both of New Jersey’s senators and allegations of misconduct from multiple whistleblowers, Senate Republicans voted this evening to confirm Emil Bove to a seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the highest federal court in New Jersey save the U.S. Supreme Court.

The vote on Bove, who will hold a Newark-based seat despite having only tenuous connections to the state, was 50-49, with Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joining every Democrat in voting no. (One Republican didn’t vote.)

Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim said in a joint statement following the vote that Bove, whose nomination they tried and failed to halt at several points during the confirmation process, “should be nowhere near the federal bench.”

“The people of New Jersey deserve a federal judge who will uphold the rule of law, remain immune from undue influence, and preserve and secure justice for all,” the senators said. ‘And the people of America deserve Senators who honor their constitutional duty to rigorously scrutinize and responsibly consent to judicial nominations. Today, neither of those things happened. New Jersey will bear the burden of Senate Republicans’ cowardice.”

Bove, a top official in the Justice Department and a former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, was nominated to the Third Circuit in late May, moving rapidly through the Senate in the two months that followed. The speed of the confirmation process, however, did not prevent a tremendous cloud of controversy from developing around his nomination.

Bove had already drawn heavy scrutiny during his brief time as acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General after he directed prosecutors in Manhattan to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a decision that one resigning prosecutor said amounted to a quid pro quo. Bove was also reportedly a contentious figure during his time as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, at one point prompting an internal inquiry into his conduct.

And after he was nominated to the bench, a Justice Department whistleblower named Erez Reuveni came forward with allegations that Bove had suggested that his subordinates disobey judges’ orders when it came to enacting Trump’s deportation agenda. Democrats quickly called for the whistleblower to appear before the Judiciary Committee for a hearing, but they were rebuffed.

Since then, a second whistleblower has corroborated Reuveni’s account, and yet another whistleblower emerged just today alleging that Bove misled senators about his role in the dismissal of charges against Adams.

When Bove came before the Judiciary Committee for his lone hearing, Democrats asked him dozens of piercing questions about the allegations – he responded to many by saying he couldn’t recall the answer or was not at liberty to say – and subsequently accused him of evasiveness and even perjury. At a committee meeting a few weeks later, Republicans pushed his nomination through on a party-line vote, and Democrats stormed out of the meeting entirely rather than participate in what they said was a sham process.

Republicans, for their part, have defended Bove in near-lockstep: “What we’re witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job, timed for maximum media splash with minimum substance,” Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said shortly before Bove’s committee vote.

Collins and Murkowski weren’t won over, but every one of their fellow Republicans was – including, crucially, Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), who has been a swing vote on other Trump nominees but who said he saw no reason not to support Bove.

Bove’s confirmation to the Third Circuit, which covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, means that the 14-member court now tilts slightly towards conservatives. Seven seats are held by judges appointed by Republican presidents and six by judges appointed by Democratic presidents, with one other seat vacant that Trump will likely fill soon.

The fact that the seat now held by Bove was open for Trump to fill at all was a preventable disaster on Democrats’ part. In 2023, Judge Joseph Greenaway, a Barack Obama appointee, announced his retirement; President Joe Biden, in conjunction with Booker, nominated a North Jersey attorney named Adeel Mangi to fill the seat a few months later.

But Mangi, who would have been the first-ever Muslim federal appellate judge, came under withering criticism from Republicans over some of his past stances and associations, and they were joined by a critical handful of Democrats who said they’d oppose Mangi’s nomination. It was clear by spring of 2024 that Mangi couldn’t win confirmation, but the Biden administration never found an alternate course of action, and the seat was left vacant for the rest of the year.

Once Trump took office, Democrats’ failure became Republicans’ opportunity; the Trump administration was quick to celebrate Bove’s confirmation tonight after making it a top priority in the Senate.

“This is a GREAT day for our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on social media. “I cannot thank Emil enough for his tireless work and support at [the Justice Department]. He will be missed – and he will be an outstanding judge.”