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Floor Speech
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Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I have seen something I haven't seen since I have been on the Judiciary Committee, which is a complete chorus of condemnation of a circuit court judge. We have had every single person express an interest in coming down here from the Democratic members of that committee to condemn our moving forward at such a rapid pace on this nomination.
Now, I would love to just leave it there, but there is something that needs to be even more urgently focused on because, as much as it might seem that this is Democrat v. Republican, I am very happy to see already that some Republicans--not enough for us to stop this nomination, but this will be a bipartisan group of opponents. It is rare, in this time of fierce partisanship, to see some Republicans looking at the evidence, looking at what Mr. Bove has said, looking at what Mr. Bove has done, looking at how he has insulted the very office that he hopes to hold of a judge and a judge's orders. People who are looking objectively at the facts are starting to see that this would be a terrible mistake in a bipartisan way. That gives me some hope that, with the hours left on the clock, perhaps others, too, will take the time to understand a few things.
One, clearly, I believe and others, not just Democrats but career prosecutors, career public defenders--we have seen judges, and we have seen so many people come forward from both sides of the aisle to say this is wrong, that it would be wrong for the Senators to do this. This is why we are starting to see some Republicans show more interest and, at least, more than one come forward and say they will not support this nominee. It is because the facts are so glaringly clear that this is someone who has no respect for the rule of law, that this is someone who has shown no temperament to be a judge, that this is someone who has been condemned for his lack of ethics, who has withheld exculpatory evidence as a prosecutor, who has been given the worst Brady violation condemnation from a judge. There are so many things that are troubling about this individual that, on the face of it, it is why so many career professionals are coming forward to say that we should not be moving forward.
The second reason people are having pause is that we are rushing this nomination before questions are answered. Too many people are moving too quickly on the other side of the aisle to get this done before questions are answered, before information is obtained for the record. This body, which is supposed to be deliberative and is supposed to advise and consent, should not be moving forward if they are to honor the obligations that we have.
Let me give the multiple reasons as to why we are moving too quickly without information on substantive things, which should raise alarms for all of my colleagues.
We asked to hear the testimony of a whistleblower who came forward with tangible evidence--texts and emails--showing that Emil Bove instructed the DOJ's attorneys to ignore a court order if it impeded Trump's agenda. Bove said ``f you'' to the courts. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to hold a hearing to meet with this whistleblower, who is not a Democrat but a career prosecutor. Instead, we saw the vote being rammed through the committee.
Senator Kim and Senator Blumenthal and members on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has oversight on the question of whether DHS violated a court order, asked the whistleblower to testify before them under oath. That committee has also not concluded its oversight. It is just a stunning and alarming fact that my colleagues on the Republican side have disregarded the credible account of someone who dedicated 15 years to public service and jeopardized their career and reputation to come forward at a time when people who step forward and tell the truth often face real reprisals.
In 2018, many former Southern District of New York prosecutors took the unprecedented step of alerting Emil Bove's supervisors to his unethical conduct as a prosecutor, calling him the ``drunk driver of prosecutors,'' saying that he was reckless and dangerous in the way that he went about prosecutions. This is an unprecedented step of former SDNY prosecutors.
Two years later, Emil Bove was responsible for the biggest Brady violation in the Southern District of New York's history. He withheld exculpatory evidence, resulting in the DOJ's having to toss out a case after a guilty verdict. His actions were so egregious that the judge used them as an example of what a prosecutor should never do. Many of my colleagues and I on the Judiciary Committee have requested more information from the Southern District of New York about his tenure. We still have not gotten it. Yet we are moving forward.
No. 3, finally, after receiving credible information of Emil Bove's role in the Trump administration's burying of evidence about what is going on right now--the man who was in the central position to know what was going on with the Epstein files--we have made legitimate requests to him about this, and he has not responded. There are so many questions about Mr. Trump's interest in hiding whatever their files are and in contradicting themselves. Either there are truckloads of evidence and lists or there are not, but Emil Bove was the Acting in the Justice Department, at the time, and now we have even more reason to question Emil Bove.
Just hours ago, it was revealed that the DOJ told Donald Trump that his name appears many times in those files. Emil Bove was the top official at the DOJ, who also happens to be Trump's personal lawyer. We should know what his role was in reversing course on releasing those files. It would be unconscionable for the Senate to move forward with his confirmation with those answers not being provided.
As I told the Judiciary Committee, there is a false urgency around this nominee. The only reason for this urgency is that the President wants his loyalists on the Federal bench without facing any more scrutiny as to what he knows and what his role was. Even without answering these questions, there is more than enough in his record that disqualifies Bove from having a lifetime appointment to one of the courts. But let's go one more--January 6.
Bove's role in the Trump administration's effort to erase the tragic events of the January 6 attack on the Capitol is disqualifying.
As one of his first official acts, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people who attacked this Capitol, including 200 people who violently assaulted law enforcement officers. Bove was one of the highest ranking officials at DOJ. He said under oath that he advised the President on these pardons.
Then he turned from freeing dangerous people convicted of assaulting police officers from prison to punishing--punishing--the dedicated law enforcement agents who investigated those cases. Bove wrote a memo saying that prosecuting those who attacked the Capitol was a ``grave national injustice,'' so he went after those prosecutors. He fired those Federal prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on the January 6 investigation. Bove then demanded a list of every single FBI employee who touched one of those cases and in doing so exposed thousands of law enforcement officials to potential retribution by the pardoned and dangerous January 6 offenders. They are now roaming free.
Several of these prosecutors reached out to my Republican colleagues and wanted to share their concerns, but not one person agreed to meet with them.
The President can nominate judges to the courts, but--and this is critical--he can only do so by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. This is a constitutional duty imposed on this House, and it requires us, every single Senator, to fully and fairly consider every nominee.
Willful ignorance does not excuse any of us from our responsibility to seek the truth. It does not excuse us from our constitutional duty to provide advice and consent.
I plead with my colleagues: Look at the facts. Give it your scrutiny. Analyze this nominee. Look at his record.
Emil Bove has shown time and time again his disrespect for the very office he seeks to hold. For God's sake, we have a whistleblower who brought testimony, receipts, texts, and emails showing that Bove said-- despite the fact that he denied it in our hearings--``f you'' to court orders. He withheld evidence that could have helped to release an innocent person or a defendant. He broke his code of conduct. He broke his ethics. He advised on the January 6 pardons and then fired the dedicated law enforcement agents who investigated and prosecuted violent insurrectionists. And now he has critical information regarding the Epstein files.
There is a lot of pressure these days to hastily push a person through who cannot be trusted on the Federal bench. There is a lot of pressure these days to rubberstamp nominees. There is a lot of pressure these days to look the other way even though the evidence is clear. There is a lot of pressure these days. But some of my Republican colleagues have broken and are standing despite the pressure and are saying this person does not belong on the bench. I am grateful that some of my Republican colleagues are standing up and doing the right thing.
There is a lot of pressure these days. There are a lot of threats. The President has put enormous pressure on people in the Republican Party who stand up and do the right thing.
Yet I have seen profiles in courage. In the first Trump administration, I saw it numerous times. I can tell you their names-- Corker, Flake. I saw my colleagues who, in times of great distress, stood up when we had a trial here--multiple people said the President was guilty; who voted against judges who were not fit for the highest office in the land; who voted against nominees for his administration. I have seen time and time again the courage of Republicans in times of distress.
I don't know of another case I have seen in my 14 years in the Senate where someone so unqualified for the bench is before us. But somehow, right now, it just seems to be too few Republicans willing to stand up with the courage of their convictions to call it like it is, to do their constitutional duty, to look squarely at the qualifications of this judge and see what professionals, prosecutors, judges by the hundreds from both parties have come forward and said to this body: Do not let him go forward.
There are just a few hours left before our final vote on this nominee. This is a time for another profile of courage. I am hoping my Republican colleagues will look at the evidence and join with the conclusion held by so many patriots in our country and not let this man get to one of our highest courts in the land.
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