During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about Trump's nominee to be a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Emil Bove.
00:00On another subject, I want to speak on the nomination of Emil Bovee, who should not be seriously considered by the Senate for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. Lifetime.
00:13He led this administration's embarrassing efforts to strike a corrupt bargain with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and he has been trailed by a history of complaints, long predating his affiliation with President Trump, about his temperament, his poor judgment, and lack of candor before the court.
00:34Think of it. We're talking about a judge for life. Attorney General Bondi conveniently did not announce her plan to keep the Epstein files hidden until shortly after our opportunity to question Mr. Bovee under oath about his involvement in this issue had passed.
00:51Given his role as Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General, it's hard to believe he wasn't involved in the Epstein cover-up.
00:59Senator Booker and I sent him follow-up questions to give him a chance to clear this up.
01:05Mr. Bovee refused to respond, but that's not the only issue that's grown more pressing in recent days.
01:13Erez Ravini, a career Justice Department attorney who defended the first administration's immigration policies, filed a whistleblower complaint with my office ahead of Mr. Bovee's hearing.
01:25The complaint recounted that Mr. Bovee suggested Department of Justice might need to say, quote, F you, to federal courts that issued orders that the administration opposed.
01:40Remarkably, Mr. Bovee couldn't deny delivering this message.
01:44He simply said, in questions that Senator Schiff and I propounded to him, that he did not recall whether he had used that kind of explicit language.
01:55So I asked Mr. Ravini whether he could substantiate his claims.
01:58In response, Ravini provided text messages, email exchanges, and other documents collaborating his allegations that Mr. Bovee had waxed poetic about violating court orders and spearheaded efforts to defy court orders and mislead federal counts.
02:16Mr. Chairman, despite your opening statement, this gentleman, this whistleblower, Mr. Ravini, has volunteered to appear under oath before this committee.
02:26Mr. Ravini, we asked you to hold his hearing on Mr. Bovee until that opportunity was taken, and you decided not to.
02:38I think that's a mistake.
02:40If you question the veracity of Mr. Ravini, he's ready to stand before you, raise his right hand, take an oath, and testify under oath.
02:48What more can you ask about credibility than that?
02:52And the Republicans refused to even consider him.
02:54His attempts to account for actions have ranged from absurd to nonsensical.
02:59This is Mr. Bovee.
03:01But one thing is clear.
03:02He has repeatedly excused the conduct of those violent January 6th criminals.
03:08Mr. Bovee was the ringleader in an effort to punish federal prosecutors for putting January 6th offenders behind bars.
03:17I have this memo ordering their termination right here.
03:21Understand what we're talking about.
03:22You're a member of the Department of Justice staff.
03:26You're a prosecuting attorney.
03:28You're given an order to proceed with the prosecution of an individual.
03:32You do so.
03:33You execute it in a professional and legal way.
03:36What happened in this case is if it happened to be a January 6th insurrection mobster, you could be dismissed from the Department of Justice under President Trump.
03:45Think about what that says about our Department of Justice.
03:50Mr. Bovee was the ringleader in an effort to punish these prosecutors.
03:53And in his memo, he wrote that the prosecutions of January 6th offenders were, quote,
03:58a grave national injustice that's been perpetrated upon the American people, not the conduct of the mobsters, the conduct of the Department of Justice attorneys who held these insurrectionists responsible for the damage that they did to our Capitol building and the threats to our government.
04:17These individuals desecrated our Capitol.
04:21Every member of this panel, virtually every member, some are new, every member of this panel who's been here for any period of time will never forget that day as long as they live.
04:30I respect this Capitol building as more than just a building.
04:34It is a symbol of who in the hell we are.
04:36And when these mobsters ran through it, rifled through our desk, posed for pictures, brought in Confederate flags, that was a sad moment in the history of the United States.
04:46You would never know it if you listen to Mr. Bovee's recounting of what he believes happened.
04:52He has called this a grave national injustice that they would be held accountable for attacking police.
04:58Each of you walked into this hearing room today confident that you were safe and secure.
05:04And you know why?
05:05Because that gentleman sitting in the back of the room is risking his life to make sure that happens.
05:10And 100 plus did so on January 6th.
05:14Are we to take these policemen for granted?
05:16I think that's awful.
05:19These individuals, these mobsters, desecrated our Capitol and attacked law enforcement officers who keep us safe to this very moment.
05:28To excuse their behavior by claiming that punishing them is a, quote, grave injustice is a disgusting insult to law enforcement officials who literally risk their lives to protect members of Congress, staff, and legitimate visitors to this hallowed building.
05:44Mr. Bovee further insulted law enforcement by falsely claiming that, quote, heavy-handed tactics by prosecutors are, quote, equally unacceptable as physical violence against police.
05:57Think about that.
05:59He tried to equalize the prosecution of these individuals for crimes with the commission of these terrible acts on January 6th.
06:08I want to emphasize that point.
06:10This man believes that those who aggressively punish cop beaters are as bad as the cop beaters themselves.
06:17This false equivalence is deeply offensive by a man who wants a lifetime appointment to the second highest court in the land.
06:25It shows a deep, a ditch-deep flaw in the character and judgment of this nominee.
06:30Mr. Bovee also has acknowledged that he provided legal advice on President Trump's disgraceful decision to pardon violent January 6th offenders.
06:41His conveniently faulty memory came into play once again when he said he couldn't recall.
06:48He couldn't recall whether he assisted President Trump on this issue.
06:51Oh, pardons of 1,600 people who've been prosecuted?
06:55Full, unconditional pardons?
06:57Can't remember.
06:58Was I part of that?
07:00Mr. Bovee lacks the judgment and temperament to sit on the bench.
07:04In the words of President Trump, the real reason he's been nominated is because President Trump believes he will, quote,
07:11do anything that is necessary to make America great again.
07:16Mr. Chairman, I yield.
07:18Senator, I'd like to respond to what you said about Epstein and Senator Blackburn and Wooden,
07:26and then I'd call on Senator from North Carolina.
07:29Mr. Chairman, can I be on the list to speak, Mr. Chairman?
