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During a Senate Judiciary Hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) criticized Emil Bove, President Trump's nominee to be a judge in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

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00:0069 were convicted of crimes related directly to that question.
00:05President Trump gave them and over 1,000 other rioters a full pardon as one of his first acts of office.
00:14Mr. Bovee called these convictions, quote, a grave injustice.
00:19Mr. Bovee also ordered the FBI to compile a list of all current and former FBI employees
00:26who were assigned, quote, at any time, close quote, to a January 6th investigation,
00:32quote, to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.
00:38Political retribution at this high level of our government has seldom been seen.
00:43This was done and executed by the nominee.
00:47There's more.
00:48Mr. Bovee personally intervened to strike a corrupt bargain with the New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
00:56You read about it.
00:57We've all heard the quotes.
00:59He wanted to drop the prosecution of Mayor Adams in exchange for Adams' promise to cooperate
01:05with President Trump's immigration policies.
01:08In response, several professional prosecutors resigned, including the U.S. attorney herself,
01:17a staunch conservative who clerked for Justice Scalia and was appointed by President Trump.
01:22She resigned over Mr. Bovee's suggested deal.
01:27The lead prosecutor in the Adams case also resigned.
01:31Hagan Scotton, who earned two bronze stars in Iraq, clerk for Chief Justice Roberts and Justice
01:37Kavanaugh, wrote to Mr. Bovee, and I quote,
01:40I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, enough of a coward, to file your motion.
01:47But it was never going to be me.
01:51And according to a whistleblower complaint the committee received yesterday,
01:54Mr. Bovee has suggested that the Justice Department might need to say F you to federal courts
02:01and ignore federal court orders with which this administration disagrees.
02:06Ladies and gentlemen, this gets to the heart of our democracy and the rule of law.
02:11As Senator Kennedy of Louisiana has rightly reminded previous nominees, and I quote,
02:16don't ever, ever take the position that you're not going to follow an order of the federal court ever.
02:23End of quote.
02:25These serious allegations against Mr. Bovee came not from the ACLU,
02:30but from a career Justice Department lawyer who was promoted by the Trump administration
02:34and is best known for defending the first Trump administration's immigration policies in court.
02:41He has now put his reputation on the line to inform this committee on the judiciary
02:46of what Mr. Bovee's wrongdoing was, and predictably he's being attacked by the president's MAGA lapdogs.
02:54In addition to Mr. Bovee's unethical conduct, there are serious questions about his temperament.
03:00According to public reporting, Mr. Bovee was the subject of an internal investigation
03:06over his, quote, abusive, quote, bellicose management style
03:11while serving as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.
03:15Just what we need in a federal judge with a lifetime appointment.
03:20His fellow prosecutors noted that Mr. Bovee has a quick temper, and he belittled his co-workers.
03:27In one instance, his poor management contributed to a botched case
03:31in which an individual convicted of serious charges related to evading foreign sanction was allowed to go free.
03:39My Republican colleagues may brush these examples aside.
03:42They may say Democrats have an axe to grind against Mr. Bovee
03:46because of the role he's playing in the president's agenda.
03:49But the fact remains that complaints about Mr. Bovee's temperament and candor
03:54long predate his association with President Trump.
03:57I'd also like to address the process by which Mr. Bovee was selected for this New Jersey seat.
04:02The White House engaged with Senator Booker and Senator Kim on this vacancy for only three months
04:09before announcing Mr. Bovee's nomination.
04:12And notably, the White House did not indicate it was considering Mr. Bovee
04:16until two months into that process.
04:19Compare that to Biden White House's approach with Republican members of the committee.
04:22Let's do the White House.

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