Senate confirms Trump's lawyer Emil Bove to federal appeals court

The Senate on Tuesday voted to install Emil Bove to a lifetime seat on a federal appeals court, shunting aside Democrats’ complaints and backing a man who served as President Trump’s defense lawyer.

The 50-49 vote came even as a third whistleblower emerged to challenge Mr. Bove and his recent months at the Justice Department, offering evidence that he misled Congress over how he handled the decision to dismiss criminal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Republicans said the whistleblowers seemed more like political hitmen, trying to take down a nominee who is deeply tied to Mr. Trump.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the lead in pushing Mr. Bove through the confirmation process, called the attacks “11th-hour media smears.”

“I support the nomination of Mr. Bove,” the Iowa Republican said. “He has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably. I believe he will be a diligent, capable, and fair jurist.”

Mr. Bove’s nomination has sparked the kind of drama usually reserved for Supreme Court picks, with secret allegations of malfeasance on his part, met with GOP complaints that Democrats and whistleblowers have been unwilling to fully back up the claims.

In a letter to Mr. Grassley sent Tuesday, just before his nighttime confirmation vote, Mr. Bove decried his treatment and said he stood by his testimony in his confirmation hearing.

“The partisan smear campaign against me is a sham,” he said. “I will be a fearless, independent judge

committed to justice and the rule of law.”

Mr. Trump slotted Mr. Bove for a seat on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Democrats say he is unqualified for the post. They questioned his temperament to be a judge, and said he possesses more fealty to Mr. Trump than respect for the law.

“They’re confirming him for one reason only. Mr. Bove is loyal to Donald Trump. Therefore Donald Trump wants him on the bench,” said Sent Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.

He called Mr. Bove a “Jan. 6 sympathizer.”

Mr. Bove was part of Mr. Trump’s defense team as he fended off criminal cases during his time in between terms.

After Mr. Trump was sworn in, he deployed Mr. Bove to senior positions in the Justice Department where Democrats say he proved himself unworthy for a judgeship.

Their two biggest complaints stem from his participation in discussions about how to handle judges who might try to stop deportation flights in March, and his earlier oversight of the prosecution of Mr. Adams, where Mr. Bove ended up signing off on the formal request to dismiss the charges that were brought during the Biden administration.

Democrats said the dismissal was part of a corrupt deal to get New York’s cooperation on immigration enforcement.

Mr. Bove denied that.

The Associated Press reported that the new whistleblower has audio of a call in February that contradicts some of the chain of events Mr. Bove testified to during his confirmation hearing.

Mr. Grassley said Tuesday the information from the anonymous whistleblower was shared with Democrats but when he tried to verify it, he was unable to make much headway.

In his own letter Tuesday Mr. Bove said Democrats have been sitting on the information for weeks and only sprang it just before the confirmation vote.

Another whistleblower who has gone public, Erez Reuveni, has said that Mr. Bove in a meeting in March urged the department to ignore judges who objected to the president’s broad claims of deportation powers.

Mr. Reuveni said Mr. Bove urged the department to say “F—- you” to judges.

Mr. Bove, in his hearing, said he couldn’t recall saying that and several other participants in the meeting have rebuffed Mr. Reuveni’s account.

Mr. Schumer, though, said the allegations were substantial enough that they should have derailed the nomination.

“They reward a man credibly accused of wanting to lie to judges with a gavel and a black robe of his own,” he said.