Cory Booker Unleashes On Emil Bove For Failing To Respond To Questions  About Role In Epstein Files - video Dailymotion

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During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) condemned the nomination of Emil Bove to serve as a federal judge.

Transcript

00:00The senator from New Jersey. I really appreciate that recognition, sir. I've seen something I

00:13haven't seen since I've been on the Judiciary Committee, which is a complete course of condemnation

00:18of a circuit court judge. We've had every single person express an interest in coming down here

00:27from the Democratic members of that committee to condemn us moving forward with such rapid

00:34pace on this nomination. Now, I would love to just leave it there, but there is something

00:46that is even more urgently necessary to focus, because as much as it might seem like this

00:54as a Democrat versus a Republican, I'm very happy to see already some Republicans, not

00:59enough for us to stop this nomination, but this will be a bipartisan group of opponents,

01:05which is rare in this time of fierce partisanship to see some Republicans looking at the evidence,

01:14looking at what Mr. Bovee has said, looking at what Mr. Bovee has done, looking at how he

01:19has insulted the very office that he hopes to hold of a judge, judge's orders, people

01:27who are looking objectively at the facts are starting to see that this would be a terrible

01:31mistake in a bipartisan way. That gives me some hope that with the hours left on the clock,

01:38perhaps others, too, will take the time to understand one of two things. One, clearly,

01:44as I believe, as I believe, and others, not just Democrats, but career prosecutors, career

01:50public defenders. We have seen judges. We have seen so many people come forward from both sides

01:57of the aisle to say, this is wrong. It would be wrong for the senators to do this. This is why

02:06we're starting to see some Republicans show more interest and at least more than one come forward

02:12and say they will not support this nominee. It's because the facts are so glaringly clear

02:19that this is someone who has no respect for the rule of law. This is someone who's shown that no

02:25temperament to be a judge. This is someone who has been condemned for his lack of ethics.

02:34That has withheld exculpatory evidence as a prosecutor, has been given the worst Brady

02:41violation, condemnation from a judge. There are so many things that are allegiant about this

02:46individual that on the face of it is why so many career professionals are coming forward

02:52to say that we should not be moving forward. But the second reason why people are having pause

02:59is because we are rushing this nomination before questions are answered.

03:10Too many people are moving too quickly on the other side of the aisle to get this done before

03:16questions are answered. Information is obtained from the record that this body, which is supposed to be

03:24deliberative, is supposed to advise and consent, should not be moving forward if they were to honor the

03:31obligations that we have. Let me give the multiple reasons why we are moving too quickly

03:38without information on substantive things that should raise alarms for all of my colleagues.

03:48We asked to hear the testimony of a whistleblower who came forward with tangible evidence, texts and emails

03:54showing that Emile Bovey instructed the DOJ attorneys to ignore a court order if it impeded Trump's agenda.

04:03Bovey said, F you to the courts. Republicans and the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to hold a hearing

04:10to meet with this whistleblower. Not a Democrat, but a career prosecutor. Instead, we saw the vote being

04:17rammed through in the committee. Senator Kim and Senator Blumenthal and members on the Homeland Security

04:23and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has oversight on the question of whether DHS violated

04:29a court order, asked the whistleblower to testify before them under oath. That committee has also not

04:37concluded their oversight. It is just a stunning and alarming fact that my colleagues on the Republican

04:43side have disregarded the credible account of someone who dedicated 15 years to public service and jeopardized

04:50their career and reputation to come forward at a time that people who step forward and tell the truth

04:57often face real reprisals. Second, in 2018, many former Southern District of New York prosecutors took the

05:09unprecedented step of alerting Bovey's supervisors to his unethical conduct as a prosecutor, calling him

05:16the drunk driver of prosecutors, saying that he was reckless and dangerous in the way that he went about

05:25with prosecutions. Unprecedented step of former SDNY prosecutors. Two years later, Emile Bovey was

05:35responsible for the biggest Brady violation in Southern District of New York's history. He withheld exculpatory

05:40evidence resulting in the DOJ having to toss out the case after a guilty verdict. His actions were so egregious that the

05:48judge used them as an example of what a prosecutor should never do. Many of my colleagues and I on the Judiciary Committee have

05:56requested more information from the Southern District of New York about his tenure. We still have not get it, gotten it, yet we are

06:03moving forward. Number three, finally, after receiving credible information of Emile Bovey's role in the Trump

06:11administration's

06:13burying of evidence about what is going on right now, the man that was at the central position to know what was

06:21going on with the Epstein files, we have made legitimate requests from him about this and he has not responded.

06:28There are so many questions about Mr. Trump's interest in hiding whatever their files are,

06:34contradicting themselves. Either there are truckloads of evidence and lists or they're not, but Emile Bovey was

06:41acting in the Justice Department at the time and now we have even more reason to question Emile Bovey. Just hours ago,

06:48it was revealed that the DOJ told Donald Trump that his name appears many times in those files. Emile Bovey was the top

06:55official at DOJ who also happens to be Trump's personal lawyer. We should know what his role was

07:01in reversing course on releasing those files. It should would be unconscionable for the Senate to move

07:07forward with his confirmation with those answers not being provided. As I told the Judiciary Committee,

07:15there is a false urgency around this nominee. The only reason for this urgency is because the

07:22president wants his loyalists on the federal bench without facing any more scrutiny as to what he

07:28knows and what his role was. Even without answering these questions, there is more than enough in his

07:35record that disqualifies Bovey from a lifetime appointment to one of the highest courts. But let's go one more.

07:41January 6th. Bovey's role in the Donald Trump and Donald Trump's administration's effort to erase the

07:49tragic events of January 6th of that attack on the Capitol is disqualifying. As one of his first

07:57official acts, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people who attacked this Capitol, including 200 people who

08:06violently assaulted the law enforcement officers. Bovey was one of the highest ranking officials at the DOJ,

08:12and he said under oath that he advised the president on these pardons. And then he turned

08:18from freeing dangerous people convicted for assaulting police officers from prison to punishing

08:26the dedicated law enforcement agents who investigated those cases. Bovey wrote a memo saying that prosecuting

08:36those who attacked the Capitol was, quote, a grave national injustice. So he went after those

08:43prosecutors. He fired those federal prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on the January 6th

08:49investigations. Bovey then demanded the list of every single FBI employee who touched one of those

08:55cases. And in doing so, he exposed thousands of law enforcement officials to potential retribution

09:01by the pardoned and dangerous January 6th offenders. They're now roaming free.

09:08Several of these prosecutors reached out to my Republican colleagues and wanted to share their

09:15concerns, but not one person agreed to meet with them. The president can nominate judges to the court,

09:23but, and this is critical. He can only do so by the advice, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

09:31This is a constitutional duty imposed on this House, and it requires us, every single senator,

09:39to fully and fairly consider every nominee. Willful ignorance does not excuse any of us from our

09:48responsibility to seek the truth. It does not excuse us from our constitutional duty to provide advice

09:56and consent. I plead with my colleagues, look at the facts. Give it your scrutiny. Analyze this nominee.

10:08Look at his record. Emile Bovey has shown time and time again his disrespect for the very office he seeks to hold.

10:17For God's sake, we have a witness, a whistleblower who brought testimony, receipts, texts, and emails

10:25showing that Bovey said, despite the fact that he denied it, in our hearings, said, F you to court orders.

10:33He withheld evidence that could have helped to release an innocent person or a defendant. He broke

10:45his code of conduct. He broke his ethics. He advised for pardons on January 6th, and then fired the

10:53dedicated law enforcement agents who investigated and prosecuted violent insurrectionists.

10:59And now he has critical information regarding the Epstein files.

11:07There's a lot of pressure these days to hastily push a person through who cannot be trusted on the

11:13federal bench. There's a lot of pressure these days to rubber stamp nominees. There's a lot of pressure

11:20these days to look the other way, even though the evidence is clear. There's a lot of pressure these

11:28days. But some of my Republican colleagues have broken and are standing despite the pressure are

11:34saying this person does not belong on the bench. I am grateful that some of my Republican colleagues are

11:40standing up and doing the right thing. There is a lot of pressure these days. There are a lot of threats.

11:47The president has put enormous pressure on people in the Republican party who stand up and do the right

11:55thing. And yet I've seen profiles in courage. In the first Trump administration, I saw them numerous

12:02times. I could tell you their names from Corker to Flake. I saw my colleagues who in times of great

12:09distress stood up when we had a trial here. Multiple people said the president was guilty, who voted

12:15against judges that were not fit for the highest office in the land, who voted against nominees for

12:20his administration. I've seen this time and time again, the courage of Republicans in times of distress.

12:28I don't know of another case I have seen in my 14 years in the Senate where someone so unqualified for the

12:36the benches before us. But somehow right now, it just seems to be too few Republicans willing to stand

12:43up with courage of their convictions, to call it like it is, to do their constitutional duty,

12:49to look squarely at the qualifications of this judge and see what plainly professionals,

12:57prosecutors, judges by the hundreds from both parties have come forward and said to this body,

13:06do not let him to go forward. There are just hours left before our final vote on this nominee.

13:14This is a time for another profile in courage. I'm hoping my Republican colleagues will look at the

13:19evidence and join with a conclusion held by so many patriots in our country and not let this man

13:29to the highest court, to one of our highest courts in the land. Thank you, Mr. President.

13:34Mr. President.

13:36Mr. President.

13:37Mr. President.

Cory Booker Unleashes On Emil Bove For Failing To Respond To Questions About Role In Epstein Files

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