Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Emil Bove, a Justice Department official and the president’s former criminal defense attorney, to the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Emil is SMART, TOUGH, and respected by everyone. He will end the Weaponization of Justice, restore the Rule of Law, and do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Emil Bove will never let you down.”
In the role, which requires Senate confirmation, Bove would hear appeals from federal courts in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Bove, currently the principal associate deputy attorney general, previously was acting U.S. deputy attorney general until Todd Blanche was confirmed to that role. Both men served on Trump’s criminal defense team for last year’s New York trial in which the president was found guilty of felony fraud.
Bove also represented Trump in cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Those prosecutions, relating to Trump’s hoarding of classified documents and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, were ultimately tossed out once Trump won reelection.
Bove, a graduate of Georgetown Law school, was once a federal prosecutor in New York.
Since joining the administration, Bove has played a central role in some of Trump’s most controversial decisions, including instructing Department of Justice prosecutors to drop charges of bribery, conspiracy, fraud and soliciting foreign campaign contributions against New York Mayor Eric Adams. That demand caused several to submit their resignations instead.
Adams’ case was ultimately dismissed with prejudice, with the judge calling out the “bargain” of the dismissal “in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”
Bove also featured prominently in the administration’s deportation tactic of sending migrants to other countries without due process.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Bove has told allies that he has long aimed to be a federal judge, a position that carries a lifetime appointment.
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