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.
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