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Ex-Trump defense lawyer Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official, is picked to be federal judge

[May 29, 2025] By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is nominating his former criminal defense lawyer Emil Bove, who as a high-ranking Justice Department official was behind the controversial move to drop the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, to become a federal appeals court judge.

As acting deputy attorney general, Bove has been at the center of some of the department’s most scrutinized actions since Trump’s return to the White House in January.

Bove ordered the dismissal of charges against the Democratic leader of America's biggest city, accused FBI officials of “insubordination” for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and ordered the firings of a group of prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 criminal cases.

He also moved aggressively to align the department with Trump’s agenda around immigration and other matters, ordering federal prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal prosecution state or local officials who are believed to be interfering with the Republican administration’s immigration crackdown.

Trump picked Bove to fill a vacancy on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The nomination, which is subject to Senate confirmation, comes just months into Bove's contentious tenure at the department.

“Emil is SMART, TOUGH, and respected by everyone,” Trump said in a social media post announcing the nomination. "He will end the Weaponization of Justice, restore the Rule of Law, and do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Emil Bove will never let you down!”

Bove is likely to face intense scrutiny in the Senate, with Democrats raising alarm about Bove's actions during his short Justice Department tenure. Democratic New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim called his nomination “deeply troubling.”

"Judges must be committed to upholding the rule of law, due process, and fairness," they said in a joint statement. "Emil Bove’s actions have compromised our faith that he can be this."

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Emil Bove, attorney for then former President Donald Trump, attends Manhattan criminal court during Trump's sentencing in the hush money case in New York, Jan. 10, 2025. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via AP, File)

When Todd Blanche, another former criminal defense attorney for Trump, was sworn in as deputy attorney general, Bove became Blanche's top adviser, serving as the principal associate deputy attorney general.

Bove, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, was on the defense team during Trump's New York hush money trial and defended Trump in the federal criminal cases brought by the Justice Department. The Justice Department abandoned Trump's federal 2020 election interference case and the classified documents case after Trump won the election in November.

Bove's order to dismiss the Adams case roiled the department. Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, and several high-ranking department officials resigned rather than carrying out Bove's order. In remarkable departure from long-standing department norms, Bove said the case should be dropped because it was interfering with the mayor’s ability to aid the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Bove clerked for two federal judges appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. He then spent nine years at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan where he specialized in prosecuting drug kingpins and alleged terrorists.

He was involved in multiple high-profile prosecutions, including a drug-trafficking case against the former Honduran president’s brother, a man who set off a pressure cooker device in Manhattan and a man who sent dozens of mail bombs to prominent targets across the country.

Bove's actions at the New York office, however, rankled some fellow prosecutors and defense attorneys. In 2018, the federal public defender’s office compiled complaints about his behavior from defense attorneys and sent them to two top officials in the U.S. attorney's office. About 18 months after the email was sent, Bove was promoted to be co-chief of the office’s national security and international narcotics unit.

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