Previous complaint was transferred to the Department of Justice, which Bove has now left
Washington, D.C. – Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) filed an updated ethics complaint against Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Emil Bove with the New York State Courts’ Attorney Grievance Committee.
Whitehouse and Blumenthal filed ethics complaints in late February against Bove with the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the New York State Courts’ Attorney Grievance Committee. The complaints asserted that Bove violated ethics rules in orchestrating the Department’s dismissal of a federal indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted on bribery, campaign finance, and conspiracy charges.
Immediately after the White House announced Bove’s nomination to serve on the Third Circuit, Whitehouse received a letter from the New York Bar transferring the matter to the Department of Justice, which the Bar claimed was “better suited” to investigate the conduct of a sitting Justice Department official. Bove has now left the Justice Department.
The senators’ updated ethics complaint contains additional information on other serious episodes of misconduct during Bove’s short tenure at the Department of Justice, including his involvement in unlawfully freezing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants and instructing Justice Department attorneys to prepare to defy adverse court orders in immigration cases.
“Whether Mr. Bove holds office at the Department of Justice or on the Third Circuit, he remains a New York-barred attorney subject to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Indeed, the Judicial Conference’s Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings contemplate situations in which bar associations discipline federal judges, permitting the Judicial Conference to disclose information in such circumstances,” wrote the senators. “We respectfully renew our request that the Attorney Grievance Committee review Mr. Bove’s conduct.”
In late July, Whitehouse and Blumenthal wrote a letter to Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, urging him to look into an extraordinarily long administrative stay issued by two Trump-appointed judges that blocked an investigation of Emil Bove and other Department of Justice lawyers’ potential contempt of court. The administrative stay prevented contempt proceedings from going forward while Bove’s confirmation to a lifetime United States Court of Appeals judgeship was rushed through the Senate. The stay was lifted the week after Bove’s confirmation. Whitehouse sent a similar letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts alerting him to the troubling series of events.
The text of the updated ethics complaint is below and a PDF is available here.
September 4, 2025
Attorney Grievance Committee
Supreme Court, Appellate Division
First Judicial Department
180 Maiden Lane
New York, New York 10038
Dear Attorney Grievance Committee Members:
We write to file an updated ethics complaint regarding the conduct of former Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove III.
On February 27, 2025, we lodged an ethics complaint about Mr. Bove’s conduct as then-Acting Deputy Attorney General in dismissing pending charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. Our complaint detailed how public reports indicated that Mr. Bove used his office to execute a quid pro quo deal with Mayor Adams in apparent violation of ethics rules.
On May 28, 2025, shortly after President Trump announced Mr. Bove’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, we received notice that the Attorney Grievance Committee was transferring the matter to the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility because that office is purportedly “better suited to investigate the conduct of an Acting Attorney General,” and that the Attorney Grievance Committee would take no further action.
Since the U.S. Senate confirmed Mr. Bove on July 29, 2025, Mr. Bove no longer holds any office at the Department of Justice. Moreover, since our original complaint, additional facts have come to light regarding Mr. Bove’s misconduct in other matters, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and adverse court orders in immigration cases, that suggest Mr. Bove violated the New York Rules of Professional Conduct.
Please find enclosed an updated appendix elaborating specific facts and relevant rules and regulations that Mr. Bove appears to have violated. Whether Mr. Bove holds office at the Department of Justice or on the Third Circuit, he remains a New York-barred attorney subject to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Indeed, the Judicial Conference’s Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings contemplate situations in which bar associations discipline federal judges, permitting the Judicial Conference to disclose information in such circumstances.
We respectfully renew our request that the Attorney Grievance Committee review Mr. Bove’s conduct. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
