EMIL BOVE IS NOT MORALLY QUALIFIED TO BE A FEDERAL JUDGE

Tomorrow, when you and the other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee take up the confirmation process for Donald Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, Emil Bove, to become a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, please do so with objectivity. He was Trump’s personal lawyer. There have been early concerns about Bove’s leadership in the current job he holds due to his personal loyalty to Trump. The NYT has reported that Bove had “emerged as the Trump administration’s enforcer, demanding compliance and overseeing a series of personnel moves … Among them: the forced transfers of top nonpolitical officials seen as a bulwark against political interference, the firing of Capitol riot prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington and, perhaps most significantly, the effort to collect a list of F.B.I. agents assigned to Jan. 6 cases.” Bove signed the motion to dismiss the prosecutionof NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who agreed to support Trump’s deportation plans in a plea bargain that led the acting US Attorney in Manhattan to resign, along with line prosecutors in both SDNY and main Justice. The Times has also reported that a whistleblower—former DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni, who was fired after he conceded the truth in court, that Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been unlawfully deported—alleged Bove made statements about deliberately disobeying court orders when Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to justify deportations: “Mr. Bove ‘stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what,’ according to Mr. Reuveni’s account. Mr. Bove then broached ‘the possibility that a court order would enjoin those removals before they could be effectuated.’ ‘Bove stated that D.O.J. would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore any such order,’ according to the account. ‘Mr. Reuveni perceived that others in the room looked stunned, and he observed awkward, nervous glances among people in the room. Silence overtook the room.’” My two Senators are lawyers. One was a judge. How could either of you possibly consider this a viable candidate for a lifetime of judicial adjudication? Administration appointments come and go. But an unqualified federal judge can damage the rule of law for decades. Please consider this decision carefully. Because it is up to you to make certain judges have loyalty to the rule of law, not a president.