President Trump’s nomination of Emil Bove – his former personal defense attorney – for a seat on one of the highest courts in the land sent shockwaves through DOJ’s workforce. During his short tenure as a senior political appointee, Bove disgraced the department by ordering the termination of over a dozen January 6 prosecutors; directing prosecutors to drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, which resulted in a wave of resignations; and telling DOJ attorneys to consider defying judicial decrees by saying “fuck you” to the courts.
Justice Connection quickly emerged as the leading voice speaking out against the nomination. We sounded the alarm about Bove’s manifest unfitness for the federal bench through media interviews, press releases, in-house produced videos, social media posts that garnered millions of views, and a letter signed by almost 1,000 former DOJ attorneys. We also lobbied Congress, including by coordinating groups of recent DOJ officials with pertinent information who met with Senate staff. And we encouraged, and actively supported, the brave whistleblowers who went public with their accounts of Bove’s actions that undermine the rule of law.
The Senate narrowly confirmed Bove. But as the following chronology of our advocacy shows, we made it as hard for them as we could by spotlighting the plain truth: elevating someone who’s degraded the institution that enforces the law to the institution that interprets it is an assault on our democratic system.
June 23, Justice Connection Press Release: Justice Connection releases video of former DOJ officials opposing Bove nomination
June 24: MSNBC airs Justice Connection video on Emil Bove
June 24, Justice Connection Press Release: Erez Reuveni whistleblower complaint proves Emil Bove unfit to serve as federal judge
June 24, CNN: Top Justice Department leaders and judicial nominee tried to mislead judges, whistleblower says
“It’s unconscionable to even consider elevating someone to the judiciary who told DOJ lawyers that saying ‘F-you’ to courts was on the table,” said Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection. “Emil Bove is a principal architect of this administration’s project to bulldoze over the separation of powers and the rule of law. It should go without saying that anyone who believes court orders can be defied belongs nowhere near the federal bench.”
June 25, Justice Connection Press Release: Justice Connection releases video featuring Erez Reuveni’s former colleagues
June 25, New York Times: Bove denies suggesting Justice Dept. ignore court orders
Stacey Young of Justice Connection, a group that advocates for former department employees, including some of those Mr. Bove has dismissed, said confirming him only carried risks. His testimony “proved again today why he is such a dangerous nominee,” she said. “It’s possible to be smart, experienced and morally bankrupt. If you are No. 3, No. 1 and No. 2 can’t save you.”
June 25, CNN: Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove denies allegations in whistleblower report and says he’s not a ‘henchman’
Justice Connection, a coalition of former Justice Department officials, released a video on Monday with statements from formal federal prosecutors warning the public of Bove’s alleged unlawful practices.
July 10, The New Yorker: Why a devoted Justice Department lawyer became a whistleblower
Stacey Young, who resigned from the D.O.J. in January and founded Justice Connection, a group that supports Department employees, estimates that about two hundred people have been dismissed. According to Young, dozens more have been transferred to lesser positions; thousands have resigned.
July 16, Justice Connection Press Release: 900+ former DOJ attorneys express alarm over Emil Bove’s nomination
Justice Connection sends a letter to the members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Media coverage of the DOJ alumni letter:
- July 16, New York Times: 900 Ex-Justice Dept. lawyers urge Senate not to confirm Bove as federal appeals judge
- July 16, Reuters: Hundreds of DOJ alumni warn Senate against Trump’s appellate judge nominee
- July 16, The Hill: 900 DOJ attorneys urge Senate to reject Bove nomination
- July 16, Huffington Post: More than 900 former DOJ attorneys condemn Trump court Emil Bove
- July 16, Above the Law: Over 90 former DOJ lawyers sign letter opposing Emil Bove nomination . . . Oh, wait, sorry, that’s *900*
- July 17, The Washington Post: As Democrats walk out, Republicans advance judicial nomination of Emil Bove
- July 17, MSNBC Opinion: Why hundreds of lawyers are banding together against Emil Bove’s judicial nomination
- July 17, ABC News: Committee advances former Trump attorney for key appeals court role
The Justice Department responds to the DOJ alumni letter:
Senators respond to the DOJ alumni letter:
- July 24: Senators Mazie Hirono and Andy Kim read from Justice Connection’s letter on the Senate floor
July 17, NPR: Senate panel approves federal judge nomination for Emil Bove, who defended Trump
“The rule of law is really only as strong as the institutions that enforce it and then interpret it – chief among them DOJ and the judiciary,” said Stacey Young, who leads Justice Connection, a group that helps Justice Department lawyers find ethics and legal advice. “And it would be disgraceful to elevate someone who’s degraded one of those institutions to a lifetime seat on the other.”
July 23, The NPR Politics Podcast: What Bove’s nomination says about Trump’s future judge picks
“The Senate has a duty to thoroughly examine nominations to all judicial appointments. And by voting to confirm Emil Bove to a lifetime appointment, they would be doing more than placing someone problematic on the bench; they would be giving their stamp of approval on everything that has happened at DOJ over the last six months. And that is simply unacceptable,” said Stacey Young.
July 25, Justice Connection press release breaks new information: Justice Connection urges Republican senators to meet new whistleblower before Bove final vote
July 29, New York Times: Grassley, a champion of whistleblowers, spurns them in a fight over Bove
Stacey Young of Justice Connection, which advocates on behalf of current and former Justice Department employees, said the group had repeatedly talked to agency employees “who are too scared of retribution to internally report the fraud and abuse they’ve witnessed.”
Increasingly, she said, those employees no longer see Congress as a viable option, faced with the prospect of being discounted or criticized. Mr. Grassley and other lawmakers, she said, have only “contributed to the culture of fear that’s hindering meaningful transparency and accountability.”
July 30, Justice Connection Press Release: Statement on Emil Bove’s confirmation to Third Circuit
August 2, The Atlantic: Republicans Might Regret Putting Emil Bove on the Bench (by DOJ alum Brendan Ballou, describing Justice Connection’s lobbying campaign)
A few weeks ago, a group of former Justice Department lawyers, including me, asked to meet with Republican senators to discuss the Bove nomination. We all had worked on prosecutions related to January 6; several members of the group were among the roughly two dozen lawyers whom Bove had fired for precisely that reason.
