The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the appeals court nomination of Emil Bove, the former personal lawyer of President Donald Trump whose actions since joining the Justice Department have attracted widespread criticism.
The panel voted on Thursday to advance Bove’s nomination out of Republican-led committee to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit as Democrats complained they weren’t allowed to speak.
Bove has faced scrutiny for his decision to investigate FBI officials and direct the firing of Washington prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot cases, and his move to drop criminal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Senate Judiciary Democrats had demanded the panel hear testimony from whistleblower Erez Reuveni, a fired Justice Department lawyer who alleges Bove suggested the department not follow court orders against the administration’s deportation policy.
Reuveni, a veteran litigator for the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, has since provided communications substantiating his allegations.
Democrats reiterated that demand just before the vote on Bove.
“Dear God, we are hearing that there are other whistleblowers who are wondering if they should come forward. We’re hearing that they’re afraid come forward. Why are we refusing to hear them? Why are we silencing those people?” said Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who has been a staunch opponent of Bove’s nomination to the appellate seat in his state.
But Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) declined the request by Democrats for a second hearing on Bove’s nomination, and said the timing of the complaint “indicates that this was a coordinated political strike.”
“I’ve seen a lot of confirmation fights. What we’re witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job,” Grassley said before the vote.
Bove also won support from committee member Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who’s been a swing vote on Trump initiatives. Tillis has said that he wouldn’t back nominees who expressed support for Jan. 6.
Despite Bove’s role in firing prosecutors who worked on cases related to the riot by supporters of President Donald Trump, Tillis said that Bove’s criticism of “heavy handed” tactics in those cases was “fair.”
Tillis said in advance of the Bove vote, “Does anyone really believe that I was convinced that Bove had made statements condoning the violent acts against Capitol police officers” and that “I was voting for him?”
Tillis said he “can’t find one piece of evidence” that Bove condoned the violence against officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
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