A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A top official at the Justice Department will be making his way to Capitol Hill today for a confirmation hearing.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
He is in line to become a federal appeals court judge - a job that carries a lifetime appointment. The nomination is drawing fresh attention to some highly controversial activities inside the Justice Department this year in which this nominee played a key role.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is here to tell us all about this person. So who is this nominee, Carrie, and what's his background?
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: His name is Emil Bove. He spent years as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, but he came to national attention when he helped defend Donald Trump in four different criminal cases over the past few years. Since January, Bove has been in charge of day-to-day operations inside the Justice Department.
MARTÍNEZ: And what kind of things has Bove done at the Department of Justice?
JOHNSON: A lot. President Trump promised to overhaul the Justice Department. Bove has been one of the people spearheading that campaign. This year, he ordered up a list of FBI agents and analysts who worked on January 6 Capitol riot cases. He also directed prosecutors in New York to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. But those prosecutors refused, in part because it looked to them like an unlawful quid pro quo, where the mayor would help President Trump with immigration, and in exchange, the criminal case against the mayor would go into hibernation. That case was eventually dropped. Adams has denied the charges. Several former prosecutors say Bove is more about loyalty to Trump than to the facts and the law. Gregg Nunziata was also critical. He's a former Senate aide who helped confirm conservative judges. Here's what he says.
GREGG NUNZIATA: He's been the president's lead enforcer and has been deeply involved in the politicization and corruption of the Justice Department. And that kind of background makes him very ill-suited for a lifetime federal judgeship.
MARTÍNEZ: Who is supporting Bove's nomination?
JOHNSON: Well, the White House says Bove's a talented legal mind and a staunch defender of the Constitution. They say Bove should be a, quote, "shoo-in" for this job as a federal judge.
Mike Fragoso helped confirm judges when he worked for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Fragoso also offered praise for Bove's credentials last week.
MIKE FRAGOSO: And I think he's been doing important work during the current administration to try to move a number of controversial but conservative policies over the finish line, which requires some pretty creative thinking on the part of the Justice Department. So I think he's - everything I've seen makes me think he's going to be a really good judge.
MARTÍNEZ: So he mentions controversial but conservative policies, which probably makes some people wonder about the president's immigration agenda. So how might that come up at the hearing today?
JOHNSON: You know, the president's been pushing for more deportations and for them to happen more quickly. Just yesterday, a former DOJ lawyer came forward with a whistleblower complaint. That lawyer was fired after he told a judge that a migrant had been deported in error this year. The whistleblower says shortly before Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations, Emil Bove said those planes carrying migrants needed to take off no matter what. The whistleblower then described Bove saying they may need to consider telling judges, bleep you, and ignore possible court orders. The Justice Department has said no one told people to ignore court orders, but Senate Democrats plan to bring up the issue today and to argue it disqualifies Bove from serving as a judge.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Carrie Johnson. Carrie, thanks.
JOHNSON: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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