Inside Trump's secret weapon to remake the courts in his favor

Since returning to the White House 17 and one-half months ago, President Donald Trump has made a concerted effort to fill the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with MAGA loyalists. And according to the New York Times, Trump is determined to overhaul the federal judiciary as well.

Reporter Mattathias Schwartz, in the Times, details Trump's push to fill the federal courts with MAGA judges.

A prime example, according to Schwartz, is Emil Bove — a former personal attorney for Trump who is now a federal appeals court judge. Bove, the Times reporter notes, "has drawn public criticism" for attending one of Trump's "campaign-style rallies." And some of the criticism is coming from Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge.

Gertner told the Times, "When he was nominated, my concern was that he was not just the president's lawyer. He was doing and saying things that were inappropriate. And he's continuing to do so now."

Bove isn't the only MAGA Republican Trump wanted to place in the federal judiciary.

"Judge Bove, one of three of Mr. Trump's former personal lawyers whom he has nominated for the appellate bench, pushed hard for Mr. Trump's policy agenda as a senior official at the Justice Department," Schwartz explains. "His age and résumé —

two clerkships and nine years as a federal prosecutor — have also driven speculation that Mr. Trump might choose him to fill a potential Supreme Court vacancy. To Mr. Trump's supporters, Judge Bove's elevation to the federal bench represents a course correction from the first Trump term. Then, nominations were guided by the leadership of the Federalist Society, a pipeline for conservative legal talent that has drawn fire from Mr. Trump when his nominees rule against him."

Schwartz continues, "Now, he is reshaping the bench by turning to lawyers he feels would be more loyal to him and his agenda."

MAGA Republicans, according to Schwartz, find Judge Bove's "defense of Mr. Trump’s deportation agenda" to be "heartening."

"Michael Fragoso, the former chief counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell, has posted what he called a 'trolling meme' showing Judge Bove alongside Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Southern District of Florida, who issued a series of rulings favorable to Mr. Trump when he was being prosecuted, as newly minted justices on an expanded Supreme Court," Schwartz notes. "Judge Bove, Mr. Fragoso said in an interview, was already proving himself capable of persuading his peers."

Fragoso told the Times, "Anyone can write a law review article in a dissent. What's harder is getting to a sound outcome as part of a three-judge panel."