New whistleblower emerges against Trump lawyer ahead of confirmation vote

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON AP The Senate is set to vote as soon as Tuesday evening to confirm former Trump lawyer Emil Bove for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge despite vocal Democratic opposition and a new whistleblower complaint against him The whistleblower provided Congress with an audio recording of Bove that runs contrary to specific of his testimony at his confirmation hearing last month according to two people familiar with the recording The audio is from a private video conference call at the Department of Justice in February in which Bove a top official at the department discussed his handling of the dismissed corruption incident against New York City Mayor Eric Adams according to transcribed quotes from the audio reviewed by The Associated Press The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the whistleblower has not made the recording populace The whistleblower s states were first released by the Washington Post Sen Susan Collins R-Maine departs the chamber as the Senate holds a procedural vote on the nomination of Emil Bove who served on President Donald Trump s criminal defense squad to be a U S Circuit Court judge for the rd U S Circuit Court of Appeals at the Capitol in Washington Thursday July AP Photo J Scott Applewhite Democrats attempt to block Bove The new evidence comes as Democrats try to delay Bove s confirmation and convince more Republicans to vote against him A different whistleblower a fired department lawyer mentioned earlier this month that Bove had suggested the Trump administration may need to ignore judicial commands a claim that Bove denies None of that evidence has so far been enough to sway Senate Republicans all but two of them voted last week to move forward on his nomination as Senate Republicans defer to Trump on virtually all of his picks A former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York Bove was on Trump s legal unit during his New York hush money trial and defended Trump in the two federal criminal cases brought by the Justice Department If verified by the Senate he ll serve on the rd U S Circuit Court of Appeals which hears cases from Delaware New Jersey and Pennsylvania Bove was at the forefront of the department s decision to dismiss the occurrence against Adams and also efforts to investigate department leaders who were involved in the prosecutions of hundreds of Trump supporters who were involved in the Jan attack on the Capitol Bove has accused FBI executives of insubordination for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the attack and ordered the firing of a group of prosecutors involved in those Jan criminal cases At his confirmation hearing earlier this month Bove addressed criticism of his tenure head-on telling lawmakers he understands specific of his decisions have generated disagreement But Bove revealed he has been inaccurately portrayed as Trump s henchman and enforcer at the department Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N Y speaks with reporters as the Senate holds its first procedural vote on Emil Bove s nomination for the rd Circuit Court of Appeals at the Capitol in Washington Tuesday July AP Photo J Scott Applewhite A February call casts a shadow over his confirmation Senators at the Judiciary Committee hearing petitioned Bove about the February call with lawyers in the Justice Department s Population Integrity Section which had received substantial general attention because of his distinctive directive that the attorneys had an hour to decide among themselves who would agree to file on the department s behalf the motion to dismiss the matter against Adams The call was convened amid critical upheaval in the department as prosecutors in New York who d handled the matter as well as several in Washington resigned rather than agree to dispense with the event According to the transcript of the February call Bove remarked near the outset that interim Manhattan U S Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned about ten minutes before we were going to put her on leave pending an assessment But when questioned at the hearing whether he had opened the meeting by emphasizing that Sassoon and another prosecutor had refused to follow orders and that Sassoon was going to be reassigned before she resigned Bove answered with a simple No At another moment Bove commented he did not recall saying words that the transcript of the call reflects him as having disclosed that whoever signed the motion to dismiss the Adams affair would emerge as leaders of the section Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley R-Iowa right greets Sen Lindsey Graham R-S C as the panel meets to advance President Donald Trump s nominees for the federal bench including Emil Bove Trump s former defense lawyer at the Capitol in Washington Thursday July AP Photo J Scott Applewhite Republicans decry eleventh-hour whistleblower asserts A spokeswoman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley R-Iowa reported that Grassley s staff has spoken to more than a dozen people who have reached out to the committee but that the preponderance latest eleventh-hour whistleblower charges reek of a bad faith attempt to sink a nominee who s already received committee approval At a separate committee meeting earlier this month when Democrats walked out in protest Grassley declared that Bove has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably Since then Democrats have tried to delay the confirmation calling for additional votes as Republicans promptly moved his nomination to the floor But there is little they can do to stop it If all Democrats vote against Bove Senate Republicans can lose three GOP votes and still confirm him if Vice President JD Vance breaks a - tie On Tuesday Democratic Sens Cory Booker of New Jersey and Adam Schiff of California called on the Justice Department s inspector general to tell senators whether Bove was under scrutiny It is imperative that senators exercise their constitutional duty of advice and consent with full knowledge of Mr Bove s actions Booker and Schiff wrote the inspector general Related Articles Democratic-led states sue Trump administration over Planned Parenthood funding cuts Trump administration wants Harvard to pay far more than Columbia as part of settlement Lawyers for Epstein s former girlfriend say she s open to interview with Congress if given immunity Trump gave the USOPC cover on its transgender athlete agenda change It could end up in court anyway Changes to federal trainee loans leave aspiring physiological students scrambling to cover costs It s not the first whistleblower claim against Bove The first whistleblower complaint against Bove came from a former Justice Department lawyer who was fired in April after conceding in court that Kilmar Abrego Garcia a Salvadoran man who had been living in Maryland was mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison That lawyer Erez Reuveni described efforts by top Justice Department officers in the weeks before his firing to stonewall and mislead judges to carry out deportations championed by the White House Reuveni described a Justice Department meeting in March concerning Trump s plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act over what the president claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua Reuveni noted Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could happen Reuveni indicates Bove used a profanity in saying the department would need to consider telling the courts what to do and ignore any such order Reuveni s lawyers mentioned in the filing Bove stated he has no recollection of saying anything of that kind Illinois Sen Dick Durbin the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel announced that Bove has used his position to weaponize the Department of Justice against the president s enemies Republican Sens Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine were the only Republicans to oppose moving forward with Bove s nomination last week We have to have judges who will adhere to the rule of law and the Constitution and do so regardless of what their personal views may be Collins noted in a comment Mr Bove s political profile and selected of the actions he has taken in his leadership roles at the Department of Justice cause me to conclude he would not serve as an impartial jurist