GOP Senators Confirm Emil Bove to Lifetime Appeals Court Judgeship Despite Whistleblowers

Republicans in the Senate confirmed Emil Bove to a lifetime appointment as a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, ignoring three whistleblowers who attested that he ran roughshod over laws and Department of Justice procedures.

In the 50-49 vote, the only Republicans joining Democrats in opposition to the appointment were Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

The first whistleblower, Erez Reuveni, said that on 14 March 2025, the day before flights were sent to El Salvador carrying immigrants to be imprisoned there in CECOT, Bove told his subordinates that court orders to bar the deportations might have to be ignored. (Bove said they might have to tell the courts “f*ck you.”) Reuveni’s account of what happened was backed up by a second whistleblower.

A third whistleblower complaint was “lost” at the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General from 2 May 2025 when it was submitted by email or 5 May when the IG signed for courier delivery of it in hardcopy. The IG claimed not to have received it until shown evidence of having signed for its delivery, then revealed its existence on the eve of the confirmation vote.

The “lost” complaint supplied evidence that during his Senate confirmation hearing, Bove was misleading about his involvement in the DOJ’s  dismissal of fraud charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Click here for more details.

Click here for more about the DOJ Inspector General “losing” one of the whistleblower complaints from 5 May until the eve of the confirmation vote.