Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement after Senate Republicans voted to confirm Emil Bove to serve as a United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit:
“This sham, hide-the-ball confirmation process is a new low for subservient Senate Republicans. Even as the lawless Emil Bove appears to have misled the Committee about multiple, credible, backstopped allegations of misconduct, this body has sunk to simply being a partisan rubber stamp for President Trump.
“Republicans have ignored whistleblower after whistleblower who bravely came forward to corroborate evidence of Bove’s misconduct. Republicans have shielded Bove from having to explain his well-documented attempts to cook up a fake criminal investigation and to use an existing criminal case for political leverage over an elected official. And Republicans have looked the other way while Bove ignored inquiries about his role in the Justice Department’s decision to continue hiding the Epstein files. All the while, two Trump judges launched a play to stall a contempt hearing that would get to the bottom of one of the Bove misconduct fiascos.
“The lawless character of Emil Bove will continue to reveal itself during his tenure on the bench, no doubt, and ethics questions from his DOJ tenure will persist, no matter how much Republicans would like to make this all go away by voting yes tonight. I expect colleagues will come to regret this vote.”
