At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) questioned Emil Bove, nominee to be to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, and current Deputy AG.
00:00And I think robes would look damn fine on you.
00:03Welcome, Mr. Bovee. Congratulations on your nomination.
00:08Your record is exceptional, prosecuting terrorists and spies and cyber criminals and major traffickers.
00:15You've dedicated your career to protecting the American people and upholding the rule of law.
00:21Your nomination reflects exactly what our judiciary needs.
00:25Serious, experienced, rule-of-law-oriented individuals who understand the limited role of the courts in our constitutional system.
00:34You are President Trump's second appellate court nominee in this second term.
00:39You and Ms. Hermendorfer, President Trump's first appellate nominee, share the distinction of being tapped to fill appellate seats that remained vacant,
00:49not because of delay or inaction, but because President Biden's nominees were simply too extreme for the Senate to confirm them.
00:59In your case, the seat had previously been offered to Adil Manji, a nominee whose radical affiliations made clear that he was unfit for the federal bench.
01:09Manji was tied to a law center that hosted terrorists, that promoted anti-Semitic rhetoric, and that attacked, repeatedly, law enforcement.
01:21When given the opportunity to repudiate those views, he declined.
01:26His nomination failed, and rightly so.
01:30Now, rather than own that failure, Democrats are reaching for innuendo, rumor, and political theater.
01:37They're trying to paint mainstream Trump nominees as quote-unquote controversial to distract from the fact that their own nominees were so out of step
01:48with basic standards of judicial temperament and constitutional fidelity.
01:55The contrast is obvious.
01:57President Trump is restoring normalcy to the judiciary,
02:01nominating judges who will apply the law, who will respect the Constitution,
02:07who understand that justice is not a tool for activism.
02:13That's especially true and important at the appellate level.
02:17Circuit judges serve as a critical check on activist district judges who seek to override national policy
02:24and impose their own ideological will.
02:28They also stand as a safeguard against prosecutors who are willing to politicize justice.
02:33I will say I find myself amused listening to my Democrat colleagues
02:38as they clutch their pearls in utter horror
02:44that the Department of Justice is deporting violent criminal illegal aliens.
02:49Oh, my goodness, murderers, rapists, child molesters, Venezuelan gang members,
02:55how dare you remove them from America?
02:58Don't you know that wife-beating gang members are appropriate to have daiquiris with in El Salvador?
03:06Don't you know that America-hating anti-Semites
03:10you should dance in celebration with, come back to our campuses,
03:16and terrorize our Jewish students?
03:18That's what the Democrats on this committee stand for.
03:23More criminals, more murderers, more rapists, more child molesters,
03:28and more Venezuelan gang members.
03:32Democrats on this committee got up on their high horse
03:35that the MS-13 gang member deported to El Salvador must come back to America.
03:41Well, you know what he did?
03:42And he's being prosecuted for human trafficking.
03:45I've read every word of the indictment.
03:47Ten years of human trafficking with MS-13.
03:52This is the poster child for who the Democrats want more of in the United States of America.
03:58And somehow, you're the villain
04:01because you are a real prosecutor willing to enforce the law
04:07and remove dangerous criminals from being in a position to threaten American citizens.
04:15Let me say on behalf of 31 million people in Texas, thank you.
04:19Thank you for answering the call.
04:21Thank you for stepping forward
04:22and fighting to keep American citizens safe.
04:28Let me ask you, in your view, if you're confirmed as a judge,
04:36what is the importance of the Constitution and what is the importance of the rule of law?
04:40Singularly important.
04:42The Constitution defines the mechanism for the entire republic.
04:51Adherence to it could not be more important.
04:54Article 3 and its restraints would guide me in the exercise of judicial power,
05:00and I would do everything that I could to enforce the Constitution faithfully based on the rule of law.
05:06So I commend you for that answer.
05:08I also commend you for knowing what Article 3 is.
05:11I'll point out that President Biden nominated to be an Article 3 judge,
05:16an individual who did not know what Article 5 of the Constitution was,
05:20and stunningly did not know what Article 2 was either.
05:24I will say in the annals of unqualified judicial nominees,
05:29the Biden administration managed to take the gold,
05:32and it is refreshing to have someone who is actually qualified nominated to the court.
05:38Madam Chair, before we recess, may I make a parliamentary inquiry?
