Emil Bova,
Anyone who doubts that DJT is, slowly but surely, moving towards seizing control of all the levers of power in government and transforming the United States from a democracy to an autocratic Russian-style autocracy should pay special attention to the Senate’s confirmation of Trump’s personal lawyer, Emil Bova, to a lifetime post on the federal appeals court. Many say that Trump has even higher goals for Bova, since Trump has sometimes carped that the three conservative Supreme Court justices he stacked the Supreme Court with during his first term have not stood behind his agenda as fully as he would like.
Said the New York Times, “Mr. Bove had spurred outcries at the department by directing or overseeing the firing of dozens of employees and ordering the dismissal of bribery charges against Mayor Eric Adams of New York. According to one whistle-blower who went public, Mr. Bove also told government lawyers that they might ignore court orders in pursuit of President Trump’s immigration policy goals.”
The actual quote circulating is that Bove told Justice Department lawyers that they’d need to say “Fuck you” to judges who might try to block Trump’s deportation agenda (which currently has only a national approval rating in the thirties.) According to a new Gallup poll, even Republicans have become disillusioned with the ham-fisted way in which ICE is going about deporting illegal immigrants, with support dropping by 40%, from 88% to 48%. When you factor in the Democrats, nationwide support for racially profiling immigrants and seizing them from outside courtrooms where they have shown up to legally report has nationwide support for the totalitarian antics of the Steve Miller and Tom Homan MAGA fores down to 38% from 62% (and falling).
Jackie Calmes in the Los Angeles Times called Bove “one of the worst judicial nominations ever.” Chuck Grassley, the 93-year-old Iowa Republican chairperson of the committee, refused to allow Democrats to air objections to Bove’s appointment or to hear from the whistleblower who would testify to Bove’s use of the F word. The Democrats stormed out of the vote. More than 900 former Department of Justice attorneys and 75 retired judges wrote the Senate to oppose Bove’s confirmation, saying that “he cannot be trusted to uphold the Constitution and act with integrity.” Former district attorney Mimi Rocah in MSNBC.com said, “I can’t recall such fierce and widespread opposition” to a nomination.
Jeffrey Toobin
Jeffrey Toobin (New York Times) wrote “Bove has proven that he belongs to the president” and that Trump is now likely “grooming (Bove) for bigger things.”
Those who voted to confirm this unsuitable candidate need to go before their acquiescence takes our democracy down. Start with Chuck Grassley (R, Iowa, nearing 93 in September), who has already announced his retirement.
