Trump judicial nominee Bove faces questions as whistleblower claims he floated ignoring court orders
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official under scrutiny over a whistleblower's claims that he suggested ignoring court orders will face questions on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as he seeks to be confirmed as a federal appeals court judge.
Emil Bove, a former criminal defense attorney for President Donald Trump, has been behind some of the most contentious actions that Justice Department leadership has taken since January. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing comes a day after a former Justice Department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower complaint that he was fired after resisting efforts to defy judicial orders.
Bove was nominated last month by the Republican president to serve on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Bove was on the defense team during Trump's New York hush money trial and defended Trump in the two federal criminal cases brought by the Justice Department.
The White House said Bove "is unquestionably qualified for the role and has a career filled with accolades, both academically and throughout his legal career, that should make him a shoo-in for the Third Circuit.'
"The President is committed to nominating constitutionalists to the bench who will restore law and order and end the weaponization of the justice system, and Emil Bove fits that mold perfectly,' White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an email.
Bove is likely to face heated questions over the allegations made by the whistleblower, Erez Reuveni, 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. Reuveni sent a letter on Tuesday to members of Congress and the Justice Department's inspector general seeking an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by Bove and other officials in the weeks leading up to his firing.
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 says Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could happen. Reuveni claims 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 said in the letter.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the allegations 'utterly false,' saying that he was at the March meeting and 'at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed.'
'Planting a false hit piece the day before a confirmation hearing is something we have come to expect from the media, but it does not mean it should be tolerated,' Blanche wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.
Bove has been at the center of other moves that have roiled the Justice Department in recent months, including the order to dismiss New York City Mayor Eric Adams' federal corruption case. Bove's order prompted the resignation of several Justice Department officials, including Manhattan's top federal prosecutor, who accused the department of acceding to a quid pro quo — dropping the case to ensure Adams' help with Trump's immigration agenda.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
29 minutes ago
- CNN
GOP Rep on leaked DIA report: ‘I'll take Israeli intelligence over that document any time'
Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown why he thinks Israeli Intelligence about the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities is more reliable than an assessment from the US Defense Intelligence Agency.
Associated Press
30 minutes ago
- Associated Press
A 12-day war followed by a sudden ceasefire. Some Iranians now wonder what comes next
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — For many Iranians it was a lightning sequence of events: A 12-day war with Israel and a sudden, U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Now, as they return to their neighborhoods deeply shaken by Israeli air assaults, fears mount over what the country's theocracy may do next. Human rights advocates have already warned that Iran's government is ramping up executions of dissidents and political prisoners. Since Israel launched strikes on June 13, targeting Iran's nuclear program and top military officials, Tehran has said that six people were executed on charges of spying for Israel — three of them on Wednesday alone. Four Iranians recounted to The Associated Press that they believe only a minority in the Islamic Republic still firmly supports its leadership. They said they are concerned the fallout from Israel's attack will derail any momentum for change in the country's clerical rule, in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The four spoke on condition of anonymity or agreeing that only their first names be used over fears of reprisals. 'We don't know what will happen,' said Shirin, a 49-year-old living in northern Tehran, the Iranian capital. She speculated that the authorities could 'take out all of their anger' at the losses in the war on ordinary Iranians. Fear of repression grows Nooshin, a 44-year-old Tehran housewife, said the government's playbook of clamping down amid internal or external pressure had already started when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a truce between Iran and Israel on Tuesday. 'Basically, after every crisis, the Iranian regime has a habit of punishing its own people, and this time, it will probably get many dissidents into trouble,' she said. The fast-tracking of several death sentence cases in recent days has sparked fears from activists that an even deadlier wave of executions could take place now that the conflict is over, similar to what followed Iran's 1980s war with Iraq. 'After the ceasefire with Israel, the Islamic Republic needs more repression to cover up military failures, prevent protests, and ensure its continued survival,' Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, the director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization, said Wednesday. 'Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of prisoners might be at risk of executions' in the coming weeks, he added. Iranian officials, including Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, defended the government's actions and lauded what he described as the unity of Iranians. 'Our people showed that they are resolute in their defense of national security and sovereignty,' he told Al Jazeera English on Wednesday. Information blackout Days of on-and-off internet connectivity have left the population of more than 80 million people scrambling to fill in the gaps of Iranian state broadcasts. Alongside revolutionary and Islamic slogans, state media has tried to drum up a rally-behind-the-flag message, echoing past similar efforts during the Iran-Iraq war. Anchors signed off broadcasts by reciting a famous line of nationalist poetry. Elias Hazrati, a state media official considered close to Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, made a rare acknowledgment of deep political and social divisions in the country while calling for solidarity against foreign threats. But Shirin, from northern Tehran, said she feared there were 'horrible things the government is doing right now that we have no clue about and won't know until they want us to know.' Some are optimistic Mahshid, who lives in the northwestern city of Qazvin, said she was hopeful about what the end of the war would bring and that she expects the authorities' recent leniency on enforcing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, will remain in place. 'I feel that after emotions subside, the government will be tolerant of people on issues such as the hijab and personal freedoms,' the 45-year-old woman said. Another Tehran resident, an academic researcher who asked not to be identified by name, echoed that sentiment. He said that it was less likely authorities would be able to roll back other changes that have swept the country following years of unrest and protests against the law on the women's headscarf. 'It's unlikely the Islamic Republic will become more hard-line on social issues,' he said. 'Because of Israel's attacks, they've been weakened,' he said of the authorities, adding that there have been rumors about easing restrictions on social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram in the coming days. Same old power shortages The researcher said Israel had 'also been targeting a lot of non-military targets' around the capital. He said an airstrike near Midan-e Tajrish, a central square surrounded by upscale Tehran areas, had knocked out water supplies for at least a couple of days in the nearby neighborhoods. Power shortages, however, were already a part of everyday life before the war — a result of years of economic mismanagement in the country that has fueled calls for change. 'The electricity cuts for about two hours most days of the week, like we did before the war,' he said. Amid the war, supporters of Iran's clerical establishment have also tried to align themselves with what he called more 'nationalist' parts of society, without really addressing popular calls for deep reforms. 'These are the people you see demonstrating in the streets, saying we have been victorious in this war,' he said. 'But most people, more than half of the country, were people who didn't want this war.'
Boston Globe
34 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
California found in violation of Title IX in clash with Trump officials over transgender athletes
'The Trump Administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law,' Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. 'The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Title IX is a 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination based in education. Advertisement California education and sports officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Federal officials opened an investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation in February after the organization said it would abide by a state law allowing athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity. That followed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that was intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls and women's sports. In April, McMahon's department opened an investigation into the California Department of Education over the same issue. Both investigations concluded that state policies violated Title IX. The administration has been invoking the law in its campaign against transgender athletes, launching scores of investigations into schools, colleges and states. It's a reversal from the Biden administration, which attempted to expand Title IX to provide protections for transgender students. A federal judge struck down the expansion before Trump took office in January. Advertisement The administration's proposed resolution would require California to notify schools that transgender athletes should be barred from girls athletic teams and that all schools must 'adopt biology-based definitions of the words 'male' and 'female.'' The state would also have to notify schools that any conflicting interpretation of state law would be considered a violation of Title IX. Athletes who lost awards, titles or records to transgender athletes would have their honors restored under the proposal, and the state would be required to send personal apology letters to those athletes. A similar resolution was offered to Maine's education agency in a separate clash with the administration over transgender athletes. Maine rejected the proposal in April, prompting a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to terminate the state's federal education funding. Under federal guidelines, California's education office and the sports federation have 10 days to come into compliance or risk enforcement action. The federation separately tested a pilot policy at a state track meet in May, allowing one extra competitor in three events featuring high school junior AB Hernandez, who is trans. The organization announced the change after Trump took to social medial to criticize Hernandez's participation. The Justice Department said it would investigate Hernandez's district and the state to determine if Title IX was being violated.
