Senate considering nomination of ex-Trump defense lawyer for lifetime appointment to appeals court
By MARY CLARE JALONICK WASHINGTON AP The Senate narrowly voted on Tuesday to begin considering the nomination of former Trump lawyer Emil Bove for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge with at least one Republican opposed and Democrats vowing to try to slow his confirmation Related Articles What s happening with forgiveness for apprentice loans on income-based repayment plans Trump rehashes years-old grievances on Russia assessment after new intelligence statement Helpers flock to immigration courts to endorsement refugees arrested in the hallways Thousands of Afghans face attainable deportation after court refuses to extend their legal protection Lawyers say Venezuelan migrant ordered returned to US sent to home country under prisoner exchange Bove a former criminal defense lawyer for President Donald Trump is now a top official at the Justice Department His nomination for the rd U S Circuit Court of Appeals has come under intense scrutiny from Democrats after a fired department lawyer announced he suggested the Trump administration may need to ignore judicial commands a claim Bove denies He was at the forefront of the department s dismissed corruption event against New York City Mayor Eric Adams He has also accused FBI functionaries of insubordination for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the attack on the U S Capitol and ordered the firings of a group of prosecutors involved in those Jan criminal cases The - vote came after Democrats forced an additional procedural vote on his nomination an effort to protest the nomination and delay the process Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Bove the extreme of the extreme of the extreme and Trump s worst judicial nominee to date Mr Bove s entire career has been built on one thing fealty to Donald Trump Schumer mentioned NEW YORK NEW YORK MAY Former U S President Donald Trump appears in court with attorney Emil Bove L during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May in New York City Former U S President Donald Trump faces felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial Photo by Dave Sanders-Pool Getty Images Alaska Sen Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to vote against moving to consider the nomination signaling that Republicans will have the votes to confirm Bove by the end of the week Sen Susan Collins R-Maine voted to move forward but has not stated whether she will help Bove s confirmation The tension and delays over Bove s nomination come as Republicans have tried to move Trump s nominees as speedily as realizable and as Trump has pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to skip the traditional August recess to stay in session and confirm more judges and executive branch representatives Thune declared he is considering doing that if Democrats continue to force delays and Democrats have shown little signs of letting up At his confirmation hearing earlier this month Bove took criticism of his tenure head-on telling lawmakers he understands specific of his decisions have generated argument But Bove announced he has been inaccurately portrayed as Trump s henchman and enforcer at the department I am someone who tries to stand up for what I believe is right Bove explained Illinois Sen Dick Durbin the top Democrat on the panel noted Bove has used his position to weaponize the Department of Justice against the president s enemies Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley R-Iowa defended Bove against the whistleblower s contends and disclosed he deserves fair restoration He reported Democrats withheld the complaint from the fired lawyer and that his staff had investigated the indicates Mr Bove has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably Grassley disclosed at a Senate Judiciary meeting last week where Democrats walked out in protest The whistleblower complaint came from a former Justice Department lawyer who was fired in April after conceding in court that Kilmar Abrego Garcia a Salvadoran man who had been living in Maryland was mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison That lawyer Erez Reuveni described efforts by top Justice Department functionaries in the weeks before his firing to stonewall and mislead judges to carry out deportations championed by the White House Reuveni described a Justice Department meeting in March concerning Trump s plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act over what the president claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua Reuveni reported Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could happen Reuveni alleges Bove used a profanity in saying the department would need to consider telling the courts what to do and ignore any such order Reuveni s lawyers disclosed in the filing Bove declared he has no recollection of saying anything of that kind A former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York Bove was on Trump s legal squad during his New York hush money trial and defended Trump in the two federal criminal cases brought by the Justice Department If validated by the Senate he ll serve on the rd U S Circuit Court of Appeals which hears cases from Delaware New Jersey and Pennsylvania
