As Emil Bove, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, prepares for a pivotal Senate confirmation hearing, current and former Justice Department officials, as well as key lawmakers, are raising serious concerns about his loyalty to the law — and his ties to Trump.
Critics, including Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and former DOJ attorneys, say Bove has repeatedly prioritized Trump’s political agenda over legal integrity. Bove, currently the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, is slated to face intense questioning Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on matters ranging from the abrupt dismissal of corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams to the alleged targeting of DOJ staff who investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
“He wasn’t just Trump’s legal enforcer at DOJ,” said Michael Romano, a former prosecutor who worked on Jan. 6 cases. “He became Trump’s personal defense attorney during two of his most high-profile trials in 2024 — the New York hush money case and the Mar-a-Lago documents case.”
Romano accused Bove of retaliating against DOJ employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigation. “Despite knowing the evidence, he fired those working on it,” Romano said in a video by Justice Connection, a network of former DOJ lawyers. “He directed DOJ leadership to remove attorneys he claimed ‘couldn’t be trusted to implement the president’s agenda.’ That’s not impartiality — that’s dangerous.”
Former DOJ trial attorney Ryan Crosswell echoed those concerns, citing Bove’s role in dropping the federal corruption case against Mayor Adams.
“He made it clear this wasn’t about facts or law — it was because Adams supported Trump’s immigration policy,” Crosswell said. The dismissal reportedly led to multiple resignations, including acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who refused to comply with Bove’s directive.
Alarming New Allegations Emerge
New whistleblower claims made public Tuesday further complicate Bove’s nomination. Former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni alleged that Bove told colleagues the department should consider ignoring court orders related to Trump’s sweeping deportation plan.
According to Reuveni’s letter, during internal DOJ discussions about invoking the Alien Enemies Act for mass deportations, Bove suggested the department tell courts “f— you” if judges attempted to block the plan. Reuveni also claimed he was put on leave and fired for refusing to submit a brief he believed misrepresented facts in the controversial deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the whistleblower’s account, calling Reuveni a “disgruntled former employee.”
Sen. Whitehouse, a Judiciary Committee member, called Bove’s nomination “deeply troubling” and submitted a formal request for records on his “scandal-ridden tenure” at DOJ. The senator pointed to Bove’s alleged interference in both the Adams case and efforts to halt funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as disqualifying conduct.
“Emil Bove is a partisan MAGA crony who used the Justice Department as a political weapon,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “He helped kill a major corruption case to reward a political ally, then insulted the career prosecutors who stood up to him. He has no business on the federal bench.”
Whitehouse and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut also filed ethics complaints against Bove earlier this year.
A High-Stakes Nomination
Bove’s nomination to the 3rd Circuit — which covers Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Virgin Islands — comes at a crucial moment. His defenders argue he’s a skilled attorney with deep DOJ experience, but opponents fear he’ll act as an ideological enforcer rather than a neutral arbiter.
Trump’s classified documents case was ultimately dismissed earlier this year, following Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling and the DOJ’s subsequent decision to abandon its appeal. However, Trump was convicted in the hush money case — found guilty of 34 felonies — though he received an unconditional discharge and avoided legal penalties.
Whether Bove’s record becomes a dealbreaker remains to be seen, but Wednesday’s hearing is expected to be contentious — and potentially decisive for his judicial future.
