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emil bove
'Beyond Unfit': Emil Bove Endorses Trump's 'Unitary Executive' Theory at Confirmation Hearing
The federal judicial nominee supports signing "a blank check for Trump to control every agency," said one government watchdog.
Jun 25, 2025
A whistleblower complaint alleging that top Justice Department official Emil Bove pressured government lawyers to ignore court orders was a primary concern for Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as the panel held Bove's confirmation hearing to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit—but a government watchdog urged lawmakers not to overlook another key issue that came to light during the hearing.
Bove told the committee that the whistleblower complaint that was filed by ousted former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni Tuesday addressed "a dispute about the challenges posed by the unelected bureaucracy to the unitary executive and to the people that elected the president and put him in office."
Accountable.US said Bove had inserted a "buzzword" into his testimony: the far-right "unitary executive" theory, which holds that limits on presidential power over the executive branch are unconstitutional—or that the president should hold absolute power over every government agency, unencumbered by members of "the unelected bureaucracy" like Reuveni and anyone else in the federal government who would express disagreement with President Donald Trump's policies or actions.
As Common Dreams reported Tuesday, Reuveni's whistleblower complaint detailed allegations that just before Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to swiftly deport more than 200 immigrants to El Salvador—claiming they were gang members who were part of an "invasion" of the U.S.—Bove told DOJ lawyers that deportation flights "needed to take off no matter what" and that the agency should "consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any such order" that would try to stop the forced removals.
In his testimony Wednesday, Bove took issue with the idea that a career government attorney like Reuveni, who was acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation, "was in a position or considered himself to be, to bind the department's leadership and other Cabinet officials."
Bove suggested Reuveni, who served in the department for 15 years under Democratic and Republican administrations, should not have been empowered to say in a court hearing that the Trump White House had mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, as he did in April—just before he was placed on administrative leave and then fired.
Under the "unitary executive" theory, said Accountable.US, Trump alone would control "the DOJ, the Fed, even election oversight. No president should have that kind of power."
Bove expanded on his views regarding presidential power when Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) questioned him about "the contours of the president's authority to appoint and remove" executive branch officials.
"Generally speaking," said Bove, "I think the court used the phrase 'all of it' is committed to the president of the United States."
In a column in February, John Bergmayer, legal director of Public Knowledge, warned that with an executive order purporting to place independent regulatory agencies under Trump's control, the president had embraced the fringe "unitary executive" theory and posed "a grave threat to the rule of law and the separation of powers—cornerstones of our constitutional system."
"That this 'unitary executive' theory has made its way from the fringes of academia to the halls of power, and that it has even been accepted by some credulous judges, does not mean that it is right," wrote Bergmayer. "Many legal observers have pointed out the shoddy scholarship and selective history that underpins it. We are a nation of laws, and we cannot be ruled by executive fiat."
At the hearing, Bove denied the allegations in the whistleblower complaint, saying he "never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order." He told Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) under questioning that he "did not recall" whether he made the comments detailed in the complaint.
Accountable compiled a list of numerous concerns about Bove's potential appointment to a lifetime seat on the federal judicial bench as part of its Judicial Nominations Watch project.
In addition to the allegations in the complaint, said the group, Bove:
- Created turmoil and chaos in the Justice Department after dropping corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, prompting the resignation of multiple staff attorneys, who left in protest;
- Advanced dubious legal arguments meant to throw out or delay Trump's legal cases when he served as his attorney, including by trying to avoid discovery requirements and petitioning to move Trump's New York state criminal case to federal court; and
- Developed a reputation as a federal prosecutor who belittled subordinates and was the subject of an email from defense attorneys expressing concern about his "professionalism" and "power plays"—a document he pinned to a wall as "a badge of honor."
Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program and an adviser at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said Bove has been shown to be "beyond unfit to serve in a lifetime judgeship."
"His temperament, subversion of the rule of law, and efforts to seek retaliation while at the Justice Department demonstrate that he would not be fair-minded, independent, or committed to protecting the rights of all people in America," said Zwarensteyn. "As his actions have shown, he would only be loyal to the president—rather than to the Constitution and the law—at the expense of the American people and our democracy."
"With each day there are more and more damaging reports and questions about Bove's tenure at both the Justice Department and in the U.S. attorney's office in the Southern District of New York," she added. "Senators must take their constitutional responsibility seriously. They must reject his nomination for the 3rd Circuit."
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Whistleblower Says Top DOJ Official Pushed to Ignore Court Orders to Carry Out Deportations
Emil Bove "does not belong on the federal bench," said one Democratic lawmaker ahead of confirmation hearings on the Justice Department official's judicial nomination.
Jun 24, 2025
With the Senate scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing on federal judicial nominee Emil Bove on Wednesday, Democrats urged the Republican Party to consider an explosive whistleblower complaint as they weighed Bove's nomination—one that revealed allegations that he directed U.S. Department of Justice staffers to ignore court orders to carry out the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda.
The whistleblower complaint was filed Tuesday with federal lawmakers and the DOJ's inspector general by a veteran lawyer in the agency's Office of Immigration Litigation, Erez Reuveni, who was fired in April after expressing concerns in federal court that the administration had wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.
In the 27-page complaint, filed by Reuveni's lawyers at the Government Accountability Project, the attorney described a meeting on March 14 in which Bove, the principal associate deputy attorney general, told his subordinates that President Donald Trump would soon invoke the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to quickly remove a group of immigrants from the U.S., sending more than 200 people to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
Bove "stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what," the complaint reads. He noted that "a court order would enjoin those removals before they could be effectuated," but said the DOJ "would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any such order."
"Mr. Reuveni perceived that others in the room looked stunned, and he observed awkward, nervous glances among people in the room. Silence overtook the room," reads the complaint.
Reuveni also alleged that DOJ lawyer Drew Ensign lied in court on March 15, the day Trump invoked the AEA, when he told Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. that he didn't know whether any deportation flights were scheduled to leave in the coming 24-48 hours.
"Ensign had been present in the previous day's meeting when Emil Bove stated clearly that one or more planes containing individuals subject to the AEA would be taking off over the weekend no matter what," reads the complaint.
Reuveni said that by April, he was "frozen out" of discussions about the Trump administration's use of the AEA to carry out deportations.
That month, he said in a court hearing that the deportation of Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man with no criminal record, had been a mistake. Abrego Garcia was sent to CECOT in March. The administration repeatedly said it would not facilitate his return to the U.S. as it was ordered to by the U.S. Supreme Court, before Abrego Garcia was indicted in Nashville on smuggling charges and abruptly returned to the U.S., where he is still detained, earlier this month.
After the hearing, Ensign asked Reuveni in a phone call why he hadn't supported the administration's claims in court that Abrego Garcia was a terrorist and gang member. He replied that no evidence supported the claim, and noted that even if Abrego Garcia was a criminal he would still be entitled to due process, which he was not afforded when he was sent to El Salvador.
As The New York Times reported:
The next day, Mr. Reuveni was told he should sign an appeal brief making the terrorism claim against Mr. Abrego Garcia.
Mr. Reuveni's lawyers say he resisted, arguing that the law does not allow advocates to make new factual claims, which he saw as "contrary to law, frivolous, and untrue."
That led to a final standoff with his supervisor... who told him "he should sign the brief and that he had signed up for the responsibility to do so," the account states.
Mr. Reuveni responded, "I didn't sign up to lie."
He was placed on administrative leave hours later, and fired the next week.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) responded to the report by saying that Bove "does not belong on the federal bench."
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged Republicans on the panel "not to turn a blind eye to the dire consequences of confirming Mr. Bove to a lifetime position as a circuit court judge."
"The accusations against Emil Bove are serious. Not only do they speak to his failure to fulfill his ethical obligations as a lawyer, they also demonstrate his part in a broader pattern by the Trump-Bondi DOJ to undermine the rule of law," he said, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi—who has been accused of "serious professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, applauded Reuveni "for having the great courage to come forward to expose the lawlessness of Mr. Bove and Trump's DOJ."
"Whistleblowers are the first line of defense to hold those in power accountable," said Raskin. "The extraordinary nature of the disclosure demands further investigation by Congress, and Judiciary Democrats are committed to getting to the truth on all of the Trump administration's efforts to turn the Department of Justice into a gangster state law firm devoted to violating the rights of the people, lying to federal judges, violating court orders, and persecuting those who uphold their oaths and speak the truth."
The news of the whistleblower complaint came two days after Judge Barbara Holmes of the Federal District Court in Nashville said Abrego Garcia should be freed from immigration detention.
Holmes took issue with the Trump administration's central claim about Abrego Garcia: that he is a member of the gang MS-13.
"Abrego has no reported criminal history of any kind. And his reputed gang membership is contradicted by the government's own evidence," said Holmes.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said Holmes' ruling was "remarkable."
The opinion, she said, "completely [dismantled] all the allegations and 'evidence' against him as 'defy[ing] common sense' and not credible."
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House Dems Push Trump AG for Answers on 'Illegal Quid Pro Quo' With Eric Adams
"The DOJ has strayed far from its principles of equal justice under the law by dismissing a serious criminal public corruption matter in exchange for assistance with the White House's immigration priorities."
Mar 03, 2025
Senior House Democrats on Monday demanded that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi hand over information about the Trump administration's "lawless order that federal prosecutors move to dismiss the public corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams as part of a corrupt bargain to buy the mayor's obedience in immigration enforcement."
Calling on Bondi to "immediately end the cover-ups and retaliations within the Department of Justice (DOJ)," House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and House Oversight Subcommittee Ranking Member Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) wrote in a letter to the attorney general:
Last month, troubling reports emerged about the Trump administration's demand that federal prosecutors move to dismiss the serious public corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams as part of a blatant and illegal quid pro quo to secure the mayor's loyal assistance in executing the Trump administration's mass arrest and deportation policies. Not only did the Department of Justice attempt to pressure career prosecutors into carrying out this illegal quid pro quo, it appears that acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was personally engaged in a cover-up by destroying evidence and retaliating against career prosecutors who refused to follow his illegal and unethical orders.
Adams had faced five federal felony charges including alleged wire fraud, bribery, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. According to a September 2024 indictment, the Democrat "sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him" as it became clear in 2021 that he would be elected.
On February 14, Trump's DOJ formally moved to drop the charges against Adams without prejudice, meaning they could be brought again. This prompted the resignation of seven federal prosecutors, and, on February 17, four of Adams' eight deputy mayors.
Raskin's office said Monday that federal prosecutors' resignation letters, "including those by Danielle Sassoon, a staunch conservative, former law clerk to [U.S. Supreme Court] Justice Antonin Scalia, and Trump's interim United States attorney for [the Southern District of New York], and Hagan Scotten, a former law clerk to both [Supreme Court] Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, revealed a stunning account of a corrupt bargain the DOJ struck with Mayor Adams, as well as an attempted cover-up."
Sassoon described a January 31 meeting she and colleagues attended with Bove at which "Adams' attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the [DOJ's] enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed," and added that Bove "admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion."
Subsequently, Adams reportedly told New York City officials to refrain from criticizing Trump. After meeting with Trump "border czar" Tom Homan, Adams on February 13 announced an executive order to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to operate at Rikers Island, New York City's largest jail, for the first time in decades.
The following day Adams and Homan appeared together on Fox News. Although the two men were seen laughing it up, Homan said that if the mayor didn't "come through" for the Trump administration, "we won't be sitting on this couch, I'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, where the hell is the agreement we came to?"
Thinly veiled Homan warning to Adams: “If he doesn’t come through … I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, Where the hell is the agreement we came to” pic.twitter.com/Pq0msJXZGb
— Emily Ngo (@emilyngo) February 14, 2025
Raskin and Crockett are seeking all notes related to the January 31 meeting, all communications between the White House and DOJ regarding the Adams case, and other information.
"For our justice system to function, 'legal judgments of the Department of Justice must be impartial and insulated from political influence,'" the lawmakers asserted. "As Ms. Sassoon said in her letter, our system depends on prosecutors pursuing justice 'without favor to the wealthy or those who occupy important public office.' Here, the DOJ has strayed far from its principles of equal justice under the law by dismissing a serious criminal public corruption matter in exchange for assistance with the White House's immigration priorities."
"Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the Trump DOJ allowing criminals to go free—whether they assaulted police officers, sold drugs to the community, or are corrupt politicians—as long as the criminals pledge loyalty to President Trump," the pair added.
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