Senate panel advances Trump's former defense attorney Emil Bove toward federal appeals court position

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Emil Bove delivers opening statement at Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing

President Donald Trump nominated Emil Bove to a federal appellate court. In the opening statement of his confirmation hearing, Bove responded to critics and whistleblower claims about his fitness for the judiciary.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to advance President Donald Trump's former defense attorney Emil Bove to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, clearing his nomination out of the committee to the full Senate for a vote.

The narrow vote came after roughly an hour of sharp debate from Democrats on the panel, who stormed out of the committee room shortly before the vote was held. Sens. Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-NY, had unsuccessfully urged Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa to allow for more time to consider Bove's nomination, citing concerns made by a former Justice Department attorney and whistleblower, Erez Reuveni. 

The lack of candor prompted Whitehouse to declare, "there's something rotten in Denmark," invoking Shakespeare and Booker, moments later, to unsuccessfully appeal to Grassley's "decency and decorum."

"Debating the nomination, putting things on the record — Dear God, that's what we are here for," Booker erupted. "What are you afraid of?" 

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FBI Director Kash Patel and Emil Bove listen to President Donald Trump speak at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. on March 14, 2025.  (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

In the end, their appeal was unsuccessful, and Booker joined Democrats on the panel in walking out of the room before the vote was held.

The narrow confirmation vote from Republicans on the panel advances Bove's nomination to the full Senate for a vote. It comes as Bove, a hard-charging former federal prosecutor whom Trump installed earlier this year as a senior official at the Justice Department, faces fresh scrutiny over his role in the administration. In recent weeks, a group of former federal judges and several Democrats on the committee have urged senators to reject his nomination.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would serve a lifetime appointment on the federal bench, which has jurisdiction in the districts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Grassley rejected a request Tuesday afternoon from Democrats on the panel to hold a second round of hearings on Bove's nomination, noting that, under the Democrat majority, the panel rejected at least four such requests made by Republicans.

"Many times during the last Administration, then-chairman Durbin said ‘there cannot be one set of rules for Republicans on this committee and another set of rules for Democrats,’" Grassley said. "I agree with this statement and intend to adhere to the precedent of then-Chairman Durbin."

Grassley added that Bove had participated in a lengthy confirmation hearing last month, testifying under oath about whistleblower allegations made by a former Justice Department attorney.

Bove said under oath at the time, "I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order." Grassley also noted that Bove provided members of the panel with 165 pages of written responses to their questions.

"Following a comprehensive review of the additional documents that you published following the hearing and discussed in the media, I do not believe that they substantiate any misconduct by Mr. Bove," Grassley said, outlining plans to move forward with the vote as planned.

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Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys (L-R) Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Lauro depart federal court after a hearing on Trump’s election interference case on Sept. 5, 2024 in Washington, DC.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

"I am not anybody’s henchman," Bove told the committee at his confirmation hearing last month. "I’m not an enforcer. I’m a lawyer from a small town, who never expected to be in an arena like this."

Bove, who spent nearly 10 years as a prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, previously represented Trump as his personal attorney in two criminal cases following his first term as president. As a prosecutor and at the Justice Department, he has earned a reputation for his fierce — and at times, aggressive — leadership style.

One longtime defense lawyer who crossed paths with Bove in New York told Fox News Digital the nominee was an arrogant "bully" and browbeat people.

At the Justice Department, Bove has also emerged as the man behind some of the administration's most contentious actions, including the decision to drop federal corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, prompting some officials to resign rather than carry out his marching orders.

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Trump nominated for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  (Getty Images)

These allegations were detailed in part by an explosive whistleblower report last month from former Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni, who also detailed Bove's role in ousting some federal prosecutors involved in the investigations into the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot, and his alleged role in ordering department officials to ignore court orders with regard to the Alien Enemies Act

According to Reuveni, Bove "explicitly plotted to violate court orders" and directed law enforcement officers "to engage in illegal acts," among other things.

Reuveni, a 15-year DOJ veteran who was fired after struggling to defend the Trump administration's deportations in a U.S. court case in Maryland, said in the whistleblower complaint that Bove shocked longtime career officials handling immigration cases by telling them they would "need to consider telling the courts ‘f*** you’ and ignore any such court order."

The report prompted new concerns from former judges, including a group of more than 75 former federal and state judges, who urged lawmakers Tuesday to reject Bove's nomination — citing what they described in a letter as his "egregious record" at the Justice Department, according to the allegations from Reuveni.

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"These are not actions of someone committed to equal justice under the law," the group said in a letter. "Rather, they reflect a troubling pattern of abusing prosecutorial discretion to shield political allies."

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has worked closely with Bove for years, told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing last month that Bove is a "freaking brilliant lawyer," and described  his nomination to the appellate court as a "no-brainer."

Blanche described his colleague as the "most gentle, empathetic, great person that anybody could ever work with."