RECAP: Senate Judiciary Hearing for Trump Loyalist Emil Bove III

Press Release / June 25, 2025

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for several federal judicial nominees, perhaps most notably Emil Bove III, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Bove, former personal attorney to President Trump and so-called “top enforcer” at the Department of Justice, demonstrated his deep loyalty to the President, showing little remorse for some of the vile actions he pursued in support of Trump. 

Democrats on the Committee–with their Republican colleagues largely silent–dug into his work at the Department of Justice, including his involvement in the firing of prosecutors pursuing January 6th charges, and his efforts to have corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams dismissed. 

Here are some of the most important exchanges and lines of questioning from today’s hearing: 

  • Eric Adams Corruption Case
    • Numerous federal prosecutors chose to resign to avoid working to have charges dropped against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, including one who said Adams’ lawyers urged “what amounted to a quid pro quo.” Emil Bove, however, was willing to pursue the dismissal of the charges. 
    • Under questioning from members of both parties, Bove defended his decision to dismiss the charges against Adams. 
    • In an exchange with Senator Klobuchar, Bove set forth the reasons for seeking a dismissal, including arguing that Mayor Adams’ bribery charges would limit his ability to govern and campaign.
      • Senator Klobuchar pointed out that this would create a new standard that no matter how serious charges are against an elected official you wouldn’t be able to prosecute them – meaning they are effectively above the law.  
    • In the memo Bove wrote directing a prosecutor to drop the charges against Adams, Bove argued, “the case was interfering with Adams’s ability to cooperate with Trump’s immigration enforcement endeavors and efforts to address violent crime.”
      • Despite the strong appearance of a quid pro quo exchange in which Adams would have his criminal charges dropped in order to implement President Trump’s immigration policies, Bove insisted several times that there was no quid pro quo occurring here. 
  • Whistle-Blower Complaint
    • This week a career lawyer at the Department of Justice went public as a whistle-blower with his account that Bove told “subordinates he was willing to ignore court orders to fulfill the president’s aggressive deportation campaign.”
    • In his opening statement, Senator Grassley attacked the New York Times and attempted to undermine the reporting. 
    • In his remarks, Senator Booker raised concerns about the incident described by the whistleblower, noting that it appears that ignoring court orders is not a redline for Bove. He expressed worries that there was nothing that President Trump might ask Bove to do that he wouldn’t do. 
    • Under repeated questioning from Senator Schiff, Bove said he did not recall if he told Department of Justice lawyers that they should be prepared to say “fuck you” to courts and ignore court orders to illegally expel people from the country.
  • Fired January 6th Prosecutors 
    • Early into Trump’s second term, then-Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin emailed dozens of prosecutors who were involved in the criminal cases stemming from the January 6th insurrection, informing them that they had been fired. 
    • Martin’s email reportedly included a memo from Bove. 
    • Under direct questioning from Senator Booker, Bove responded “no” when asked if he fired dozens of prosecutors working on these cases.
      • Senator Booker responded by saying, “I am hoping more evidence is going to come out that shows that you lied before this committee.”
    • Bove reportedly embraced “embraced Trump’s characterization of Jan. 6 prosecutions as a ‘grave national injustice.’”
      • When asked by Senator Hirono if he agreed with President Trump’s pardon of the insurrectionists, Bove refused to answer saying it’d be inappropriate for him to weigh in on this issue. 
  • 2020 Election Denialism
    • Senator Welch asked Bove who won the 2020 presidential election. Bove noted that President Biden was “certified as the winner” of the election. 
    • Welch quipped that this was the new standard answer for election deniers and was puzzled as to why Bove couldn’t just directly say who won the election.
      • In response Bove said that to weigh in on that would be “political” which left Senator Welch asking how a simple fact could be a political matter. 

Emil Bove III is exactly the kind of loyalist judge that Trump and his allies want on our courts. Instead of a commitment to the rule of law and the American people, Bove has a proven record of working for Trump and his agenda. 

As Senator Durbin said in his opening statement, “Having earned his stripes as a loyalist to this President, [Bove] has been rewarded with this lifetime nomination.” As Bove’s nomination continues in the Senate, Senators on both sides of the aisle must show their commitment to judicial independence and keep this loyalist off the federal bench.