How To Talk To Your Senators About Emil Bove

So much has happened since Donald Trump was convicted in a Manhattan courtroom on May 30, 2024, reelected, and returned to the White House, that you should be forgiving of yourself if some of the details of Emil Bove’s work on his behalf have slipped your mind. I’m here to help you refresh your recollection. You may find it particularly helpful to have the details at hand if you plan to reach out to your Senators about his judicial nomination.

Speaking of folks who needed help refreshing their recollection, Bove struggled today in his confirmation hearing under questioning by California Senator Adam Schiff. Schiff asked him about the detail we discussed last night, the allegation in Whistleblower Erez Reuveni’s complaint about Bove’s dismissive comments about the courts. That would be the courts he now hopes to be confirmed to serve on.

SCHIFF: Did you suggest telling the courts 'fuck you' in any manner?

BOVE: I don't recall.

SCHIFF: You just don't remember that.

In my experience, the answer to a question like this is either yes or no. And we all know which of those “I don’t recall” is.

Bove can’t have it both ways. If he wants to serve on the federal bench, he has to be able to unconditionally deny that he ever directed his employees at DOJ (people who knew from recent experience that he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice them if they didn’t comply) to refuse to comply with court orders; to tell the courts, “fuck you.” If he can’t do that, if he can’t credibly refute the allegation that he has utter disregard for the institution he’s trying to get a position with, then he shouldn’t get the job. Nominations have failed over far less.

But “should” is doing a lot of hard work in the sentence about not getting the job. We are realists, and we understand the times in which we live. That said, don’t buy into the idea that telling your Senators how you feel won’t work. Matt Gaetz—remember him?—is not the attorney general of the United States because we spoke up. Federal judges get lifetime appointments, and Senators offer the president their advice and consent before their picks are confirmed. Would your Senators confirm a Secretary of Defense nominee who said “F*** the military”? Then, if the facts establish that Bove said this, they shouldn’t confirm him either. Your Senators need to hear that from you, if it’s how you view this situation.

The group Five Calls links to reporting that suggests the most effective way to share your views with your Senators is to call them on the phone. They say it’s harder to ignore and offer some advice for people who are hesitant to call on their website. Sometimes your call may not go through and you may want to use email or snail mail. You’ll find those addresses on your Senators’ websites. The important thing is that you do reach out (and encourage your friends to do the same) because Senate staffers are keeping track. If all of us called today to tell our Senators that a vote for Bove is unacceptable, it would make quite an impact!

Bove is used to stinging criticism that might make souls more capable of shame flinch. Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono asked him about two of them:

• Around 2018, Bove was denied a promotion to a supervisory position he wanted in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the S.D.N.Y. because of what a write up in Politico called a harsh management style that included blowing up at his colleagues, belittling the work of subordinates, and being “unusually tough” on law enforcement agents. Demeanor is one of the qualifications for the job and this is concerning. Although Bove has explained he took the criticism of his behavior seriously and tried to improve, his conduct since returning to DOJ, including the way he demeaned his former colleague and friend Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, when she questioned his decision to dismiss the public corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams raises new questions.

• Hirono also asked Bove about a case where a judge criticized him for failing to properly supervise prosecutors on a case in which a prosecutor committed one of the cardinal sins a federal prosecutor can commit: failing to turn over evidence that was arguably favorable to a defendant. This is the kind of thing that gets lawyers disciplined if not disbarred. Although there was no direct evidence that Bove was party to withholding the evidence, he was the supervisor, and the Judge criticised him sharply when the situation came to light. The prosecution, which might well have otherwise been successful, failed. Bove had a ready explanation when the Senator asked him if he remembered the case: “I do, senator, and I respect Judge Nathan and I think that what she was trying to accomplish in that decision was to make sure there were protections in place.” Not exactly a solid acceptance of responsibility there. The Judge’s February 2021 order suggests she had serious concerns about Bove’s conduct. Bove resigned from DOJ in December of that year, joining Trump’s legal team in September 2023.

There is more, including some of the issues we’ve discussed here at Civil Discourse:

• In January, Bove, newly returned to DOJ in the Trump administration, ordered January 6 prosecutors fired. Next, he was behind the firing of FBI agents who had done nothing more than work on cases they were assigned to, an unprecedented and arguably illegal step (litigation is still pending). Those cases involved January 6, and the desire to create a loyal FBI seemed to mean those agents had to go. Bove was happy to play along and give the orders. He wrote in a memo, “The FBI — including the Bureau’s prior leadership — actively participated in what President Trump appropriately described as ‘a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated on the American people over the last four years’ with respect to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

• Bove signed the motion to dismiss the Eric Adams prosecution. We discussed that last night.

• The day after Trump’s inauguration, Bove signed off on a memo designed to try and force state and local law enforcement to carry out Trump’s mass deportation plans. The memo claimed that the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution required state and local officials to comply, but that’s wrong—state officials can’t be compelled to enforce federal law. As I wrote at the time, the authority on the subject was the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion in a case that held that the federal government could not require states to enforce or enact federal regulatory programs. Doing so would violate the states’ sovereignty. The role Bove played raises questions about whether his allegiance lies with the president who appointed him or the oath he took to uphold the rule of law.

Perhaps just one of these items could be forgiven. People do make mistakes and learn from them. But the trajectory across the years says otherwise, and the most recent allegations of flagrant disregard for the role the courts play in our constitutional system of government demand more than the standard response of those trying to blur the lines while under oath, “I don’t recall.”

Make sure your Senators know you care about judicial confirmation votes, and especially this one. Your phone call alone might not change their vote, but all of us calling collectively can have an impact. Senators track the issues their constituents care about strongly enough to take the time to reach out. They have to care because they need your support to be reelected. So, make sure they understand the level of importance that this confirmation has for you.

Calling is the way you remind your Senators that the power they are exercising is on loan from you, from all of us—the people they represent. Hold them accountable, and together we can build the kind of momentum that leads to rejected nominations. If we don’t, Emil Bove, who has repeatedly demonstrated loyalty to Donald Trump over the Constitution, will have life tenure on the federal bench, perhaps even a launch pad for a seat on the Supreme Court. Regardless of whether your Senators are Democrats or Republicans, make sure they know how you feel. Don’t let them convince you that your voice doesn’t matter. It does. Make sure you use it!

We’re in this together,

Joyce