'Unfit to practice law at all': Legal scholar rails on Trump judicial nominee

26 June

Emil Bove, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, attends at Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. JEENAH MOON/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

During a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, June 25, Democratic senators aggressively questioned Emil Bove — acting deputy U.S. attorney general and President Donald Trump's nominee for a permanent federal appeals court position. Bove is drawing a lot of scrutiny from Democrats and Never Trump conservatives following reporting from the New York Times and CNN that according to whistleblower Erez Reuveni — who was fired from his position as a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney — the Trump nominee told DOJ colleagues that they should disobey federal court orders on Trump's immigration/deportations policies.

Bove and his allis are vehemently denying Reuveni's allegations, and MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin fears that GOP senators will confirm Bove despite the controversy.

But in an op-ed published by MSNBC on June 26, legal scholar Ray Brescia lays out some reasons why the allegations against Bove as are so "troubling."

"As key cogs in our legal system," Brescia explains, "lawyers must follow the core principle that they engage in zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients but stay within the bounds of the law. Over the first five months of President Donald Trump's second administration, Emil Bove III, formerly one of Trump's personal lawyers, has tested the limits of his obligations to the legal system in service of the administration's policy goals."

Brescia, who teaches at Albany Law School in Upstate New York, continues, "Trump has nominated Bove for a lifetime appointment to a federal appeals court. The Senate will now consider Bove's nomination. Recent allegations that he gave federal prosecutors instructions to ignore court rulings, if true, suggest he isn't fit to practice law at all, let alone serve on the federal bench. Trump has nominated Bove for a lifetime appointment to a federal appeals court. The Senate will now consider Bove's nomination. Recent allegations that he gave federal prosecutors instructions to ignore court rulings, if true, suggest he isn't fit to practice law at all, let alone serve on the federal bench."

During the June 25 hearing, Bove emphatically stated, "I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order."

But Brescia emphasizes that "Reuveni's allegations, if true, paint a troubling picture of Bove's behavior as a senior Justice Department official — one that raises serious questions about not just his qualifications for a federal judgeship, but also his fitness to practice law altogether."

"Will such reports sink his nomination?" Brescia writes. "Unfortunately, given Trump's hold on the Republican Party, that’s hard to say. Regardless, if Reuveni's allegations hold up, Bove may well have failed to uphold his most basic obligations as an attorney."

Ray Brescia's full MSNBC op-ed is available at this link.

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