Republican senators confirm former Trump lawyer to lifetime judgeship over objection of Democrats, whistleblowers

By Katelyn Polantz, Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official who also defended Donald Trump in his criminal indictments, has been confirmed to a lifetime appointment as a federal appellate judge, despite accusations from a handful of whistleblowers accusing him of improperly overseeing cases for the administration.

Bove’s nomination to the bench for the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals was one of the most controversial of Trump’s appointments so far, especially within the legal community, where intense opposition from hundreds of former Justice Department prosecutors and dozens of former judges emerged in recent weeks.

Still, materials brought forward to the Senate Judiciary Committee by three whistleblowers were not enough to derail Bove’s nomination. Taken together, the complaints portrayed Bove at Trump’s Justice Department as a leader frustrated with underlings as he pressured them to align with the president’s policies even if he faced significant opposition, according to multiple people familiar with whistleblower accusations.

The Senate approved the nomination 50-49, largely along party lines.

CNN has reached out to the Department of Justice but did not receive a response.

A Justice Department spokesman previously told CNN that Bove “will make an excellent judge.”

“Emil Bove is a highly qualified judicial nominee who has done incredible work at the Department of Justice to help protect civil rights, dismantle Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Make America Safe Again,” spokesperson Gates McGavick told CNN. “He will make an excellent judge — the Department’s loss will be the Third Circuit’s gain.”

Whistleblowers raise concerns

Among the accusations raised by whistleblowers in recent months were concerns over Bove’s interactions with rank-and-file prosecutors.

In one case, at least some members of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee – the panel responsible for advancing Bove to a full Senate vote – were made aware of an audio recording of a meeting that Bove held with prosecutors earlier this year in which he pushed them to follow orders and dismiss the federal corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, sources told CNN.

Democrats on the committee looked into whether the whistleblower’s disclosures contradicted Bove’s Senate testimony about the meeting and his denial that he threatened to punish prosecutors who refused to dismiss the Adams case in line with the administration’s agenda. Sources have described the existence and substance of an audio recording to CNN, but CNN has not independently listened to it.

Two other whistleblowers went to the Senate Judiciary Committee with concerns about Bove’s approach to the courts while pushing Trump’s immigration agenda, which has at times deprived detainees of due process.

In the wake of some of the allegations against Bove, Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee walked out of a key vote earlier this month in protest. But Bove’s nomination advanced over their opposition with all 12 Republicans on the panel voting to move it forward.

Leading up to the final vote Tuesday, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said he had obtained new documentation related to Bove’s alleged actions, claiming to have “substantive information” to share with his colleagues about the nomination and inviting them to view it for themselves.

The Washington Post on Monday and Tuesday also described a whistleblower around the Adams case who provided documentation to the Senate Judiciary Committee alleging that Bove had misled the Senate.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary panel, accused Republicans of pushing the confirmation vote too quickly in light of the new allegations.

“It appears my Republican colleagues fear the answers,” he said ahead of Bove’s final vote.

But Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said Tuesday that his office looked into the whistleblower allegations, as well as followed up with additional interviews, but found no misconduct by Bove.

The Iowa Republican pushed back against the allegations and criticisms lodged against Bove, saying Senate Democrats had “crossed the line” in their attacks and had not shared whistleblower documentation in a timely manner.

“This timeline raises serious concerns, and it’s legitimate to raise them as a major problem,” Grassley said from the Senate floor just hours before the full chamber voted on Bove’s confirmation. “If my Democratic colleagues wanted to investigate allegations, they should have come to this senator and we could have vetted the allegations in good faith together.”

Grassley’s office also told CNN they were not aware of one of the whistleblower’s claims until media reports surfaced Friday. They did not meet with that person’s lawyers until Monday, even though they had made themselves available to meet earlier, the senator’s office told CNN.

In the end, the whistleblowers’ disclosures were not enough to prompt the public release of the Adams case recording or its transcripts.

While nearly all Republican senators stood behind the president’s nominee and criticized the timeline by which the most recent whistleblower came forward, a few in the party raised concerns.

GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine opposed Bove’s nomination during procedural votes last week. Collins released a statement at the time saying she could not trust that he would act as an “impartial jurist” if confirmed. The pair ultimately voted with Democrats against his confirmation.

But key Republicans, including Sen. Thom Tillis – who previously was central to the withdrawal of another Trump legal nominee, Ed Martin, for DC US attorney — were willing to advance Bove’s nomination and ultimately voted to confirm him.

Tillis previously had gauged Trump nominees by their responses on the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack, drawing a red line when Martin didn’t denounce the violence.

On Bove, Tillis said earlier this month, “The staff gave me a yes recommendation, until I have a reason otherwise. He didn’t trip the switch on January 6.”

CNN has reached out to Tillis’ office for comment Tuesday.

Controversies fuel questions of fitness

Trump nominated Bove in May to become a judge on the US Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees federal precedent in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Before joining the Justice Department this year, Bove served as a private defense attorney for Trump responding to multiple criminal indictments, including one in New York City. The president then hand-picked him, alongside several of his other private attorneys, to fill leadership roles in the Justice Department.

The Adams case has long been part of the discussion around Bove’s fitness for the federal bench. As Bove pushed for its dismissal earlier this year, a half-dozen Justice Department prosecutors resigned rather than follow his orders.

Some who resigned said they believed Bove’s direction to dismiss the case was intended to coax Adams to support the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policy enforcement in New York City. A federal judge ultimately dismissed the charges against Adams.

More recently, a whistleblower emerged around a separate series of events related to Bove giving directions to line attorneys working on immigration cases.

The whistleblower, former Justice Department immigration attorney Erez Reuveni, alleged Bove told other Department lawyers they may need to tell courts “f**k you.”

Bove said in his congressional testimony that he didn’t recall if he made the “f**k you” comment at the March 14 immigration attorneys’ meeting.

Another whistleblower has made claims to the Justice Department’s watchdog that Bove suggested others in the department could ignore court orders during a contentious legal battle in an immigration case.

CNN’s Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

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