Emil Bove III, a senior Trump administration official, was narrowly confirmed last month to serve as an appeals court judge, brushing past a bitter confirmation fight despite concerns that he would carry out the president’s directives while on the federal bench.
Still, Mr. Bove has continued to work at the Justice Department, appearing just last week at a department event to celebrate the crime-fighting takeover of the Washington police, according to video of the gathering. It was just one instance of Mr. Bove’s presence at the department, where he has also attended meetings, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the department’s inner workings.
The code of conduct for federal judges does not appear to apply to Mr. Bove, who court records show has yet to be sworn in. But the fact that he has remained at the Justice Department has raised eyebrows. Some legal experts said that working for the administration after being confirmed could undermine faith in the court system. Others expressed worry that Mr. Bove could expose himself to potential conflicts, advising Justice Department officials on matters that may eventually land before him as a federal judge.
“What the rules protect is public trust and confidence in the independence of the judiciary, which is of great value to the country, whether or not there is anything else that is untoward,” said Stephen Gillers, an expert on legal ethics at New York University’s law school. “Socializing with Trump is fine. Advising Trump is not fine. Putting himself physically in a place where it looks like he is identifying with the president’s political agenda is not fine.”
Chad Gilmartin, a Justice Department spokesman, defended Mr. Bove’s post-confirmation work, but declined to discuss what the future judge had been working on for the department since his confirmation.
“The notion that there’s anything improper here is absurd — both Judge Bove and the department complied with every rule and ethics requirement,” Mr. Gilmartin said. “Trying to turn routine, lawful conduct into a scandal doesn’t make it one. And we congratulate Judge Bove on his well-deserved confirmation.”
The code of conduct for federal judges, which bars activity that appears to compromise their independence or impartiality, does not go into effect until a judge is sworn into office.
In Mr. Bove’s case, he did not receive his commission to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which sits in Philadelphia, until Aug. 20. Mr. Bove is a former prosecutor who went on to serve as a criminal defense lawyer for Mr. Trump before ascending to the upper ranks of the Justice Department.
A day after Mr. Bove received his judicial commission, he attended an event in southeast Washington, where Justice Department leaders and Mr. Trump declared their takeover of the police department in the capital an unequivocal success.
Footage of the event showed the president, Attorney General Pam Bondi and others shaking hands in front of a police S.U.V. while Mr. Bove stood on the other side, grinning and mostly out of sight.
A similar situation surfaced in 1991, when J. Michael Luttig, a Justice Department official and newly confirmed judge, continued to help advance Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court. His conduct also raised concerns at the time among some ethics experts.
Judge Luttig said the two situations were “completely different,” because he was helping the White House, and his role was common knowledge then.
If it was just a matter of attending an event or two, or visiting the department occasionally, that would not matter much, he said.
But, Judge Luttig added, “There’s no reason for him to be hanging around the Department of Justice for a month.” That, he said, raised questions about what Mr. Bove might have worked on in that period that he could review as a judge.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
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