The Wrong Man: Naming Trump Lawyer To Bench Affronts The Rule Of Law
The most consequential court of appeals nomination in years comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.
Emil Bove, nominated for the Third Circuit, has shown himself a willing henchman for Donald Trump, even when that means betraying the Department of Justice’s most sacred charge: to do justice without fear or favor. If he is confirmed, it would reward his transgressions — and advance Trump’s project of populating the federal courts with judges who put loyalty to him above the dictates of the rule of law.
Bove first emerged in the public eye as Trump’s personal lawyer in the New York criminal case. After Trump’s inauguration, he vaulted into DOJ leadership, handpicked to serve as principal aide to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — one of only a handful of Trump loyalists embedded at senior levels.
Early in his tenure, Bove directed DOJ prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to dismiss charges against Mayor Eric Adams — not because the evidence was lacking, but because the administration wanted Adams pliable. Bove’s own letter conceded the case against Adams was solid. The dismissal was purely political: let Adams off the hook in exchange for cooperation on immigration and other Trump priorities.
This wasn’t just unethical. It was incompatible with DOJ’s core function. A prosecutor may not bring charges lacking legal and factual basis. But where charges are lawfully supported, dismissing them for political reasons constitutes a direct assault on the rule of law.
The fallout inside DOJ was immediate and cataclysmic. Seven senior prosecutors resigned, including the acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan and the lead prosecutor on the Adams case. Resignations followed across DOJ’s vaunted Public Integrity Unit — long its crown jewel. In a display of breathtaking bullying, Bove assembled the remaining prosecutors, demanded that one sign dismissal orders, and threatened to fire them all if anyone refused. It was an act of raw intimidation, shattering the norms that had governed DOJ for decades.
The federal court ultimately dismissed the case — but with prejudice, blocking any future prosecution. The judge openly criticized what appeared to be a political quid pro quo: dismissal in exchange for Adams’s cooperation on Trump’s immigration agenda.
Bove’s conduct reflected not just an abuse of authority, but a dangerous perversion of DOJ’s mission. He didn’t see the Constitution or even the office of the presidency as his client; rather, and notwithstanding his oath of office, he made Trump’s personal interests paramount.
That alone would be disqualifying conduct. But the case against Bove became more damning with the release of a whistleblower complaint this week from longtime DOJ career attorney Erez Reuveni — a 15-year veteran who had previously been commended for his service under Trump.
Reuveni’s 27-page complaint details serial misconduct by Bove. Among the most chilling episodes: a March 14, 2025, meeting — the eve of a showdown with Judge Jeb Boasberg — in which DOJ leaders discussed the administration’s plan to send undocumented migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador. The meeting acknowledged that a court injunction was likely. According to Reuveni, Bove floated the option of simply defying any judicial order. “We would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore any order,” Bove said. He emphasized that the planes “needed to take off no matter what.”
Soon after, Reuveni himself became a casualty. In court, representing DOJ in the Abrego Garcia case, he told the judge — consistent with his duty of candor — that the removal had been a mistake. Other DOJ officials, including Trump’s Solicitor General, John Sauer, ultimately admitted the same. For his honesty, Reuveni was placed on leave and fired days later. The White House Deputy Chief of Staff dismissed him as a “saboteur, a Democrat.”
Reuveni’s complaint describes a DOJ culture turned upside down: a once-independent institution repurposed as a Trump law firm. The others present at Bove’s meeting, Reuveni writes, were “stunned,” reacting with “awkward nervous glances.” Speaking from personal experience: had the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General — Merrick Garland, when I last served — ever dared suggest such outright defiance of court authority, stunned silence would have been the mildest of reactions.
This is the DOJ that Bove helped build — a through-the-looking-glass agency where career prosecutors are bullied, the law is weaponized, and loyalty to Trump eclipses any loyalty to the Constitution.
Now, Bove seeks his reward: a lifetime seat on the federal bench. And the Judiciary Committee must decide whether to bless that reward — whether to confer on him the lifetime power to sit in judgment, despite his demonstrated contempt for the rule of law. And should he be confirmed, Bove will immediately be on the short list for Trump’s next Supreme Court appointment.
Predictably, Republicans have already begun their familiar playbook: discredit the whistleblower. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has labeled Reuveni “a disgruntled former employee.” But much of Reuveni’s account is already corroborated in the public record. More than that, Reuveni has receipts: contemporaneous emails, documents, and witness accounts.
Republicans now face a binary choice. They can ignore the allegations altogether — or defend Bove’s suitability for the bench despite his record of contempt for judicial authority, ethical norms, prosecutorial integrity, and the firewall that must separate politics from justice.
And beyond Bove’s personal misconduct looms something larger: a deliberate scheme by the Trump administration to bulldoze the constitutional separation of powers through lawless executive orders and calculated defiance of the courts. Bove was a loyal foot soldier in that campaign. Confirming him would not merely reward one man — it would reward the entire project. It would be as if John Mitchell, instead of going to prison after Watergate, had been elevated to the federal bench.
Like Pam Bondi, Aileen Cannon, J.D. Vance, and others, Bove made his bet: serve Trump’s corrupt and lawless interests for the hope of lifetime professional rewards. That’s not a bet that a healthy democracy should reward.
Harry Litman is a former United States Attorney and the executive producer and host of the Talking Feds podcast. He has taught law at UCLA, Berkeley, and Georgetown and served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton Administration. Please consider subscribing to Talking Feds on Substack.
Reprinted with permission from Substack.
