In short
Senate confirmation push for Emil Bovee (Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer; Todd Blanche’s former law partner) to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, amid DOJ independence concerns and new whistleblower allegations.
Guests/backgrounds
The episode centers on two whistleblowers. First is Erez Ruvani, a DOJ immigration litigation veteran (15+ years, including during Trump’s first term) who was fired after telling a federal judge about an order of non-removal to El Salvador. Second is a “number two” whistleblower who filed a complaint with the DOJ Office of Inspector General.
Key claims
Bovee is “obscenely unqualified” and should be disbarred; DOJ allegedly “ring fences” the nominee, undermining judicial independence. Allegations claim Bovee coordinated with others in March around the Alien Enemies Act/war powers to pressure lawyers to tell judges to “go F off,” while deportations to places like El Salvador/killer prisons proceeded without due process.
Notable examples
The Abrego Garcia case (non-removal order ignored); a 27-page single-spaced complaint by Ruvani; Senate Judiciary Committee vote (12–11) and cloture to limit debate (50–47, with Murkowski and Collins dissenting).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOConcerns Over Emil Bovey's Nomination
0:30 to 2:16
Discussion on the concerns surrounding Emil Bovey's judicial nomination.
“We should be looking at him being disbarred as a lawyer, not to be failing up and promoted to a lifetime appointment on the federal bench.”
Whistleblower Allegations Against Bovey
2:16 to 4:18
Detailing the allegations from two whistleblowers against Emil Bovey.
“How is he going to be the leader on the Senate floor with limited debate opportunities?”
Bovey's Relationship with the DOJ
4:18 to 8:19
Exploring Emil Bovey's ties to the Department of Justice and Trump.
“It will help change in a negative way the face of the judiciary.”
Senate Dynamics Around Bovey's Confirmation
9:38 to 14:01
Analyzing the Senate's actions regarding Emil Bovey's confirmation vote.
“But yet the MAGA Republicans in fealty to their fearless leader voted to get him out of committee.”
The Importance of Senate Control
14:01 to 14:36
Learn why maintaining Democratic control in the Senate is critical for investigations.
“He's going to have 200 or more judges by the time this whole thing is over.”
Legal AF Channel Growth
14:39 to 14:49
Discover how you can support the growth of the Legal AF channel.
“In the meantime, come over to Legal AF, hit the free subscribe button, help us continue to grow that channel as well.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This podcast is supported by Anthropic, the public benefit corporation behind Claude. Everyone's got a hard question about AI. Your job, your kids, where it's going. Anthropic was built to surface those questions and share what it finds along the way. Because there's hope in hard questions. Ask yours at claude.ai slash Spotify and keep thinking. That's claude.ai slash Spotify.
0:30Michael Popok:As the Senate MAGA Republicans close ranks to shove Emil Bovey's nomination through to confirmation to be on the Third District Court of Appeals, we've got a second whistleblower who has filed a complaint with the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Justice, which demonstrates that Emil Bovey, Donald Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, former law partner for Todd Blanche, the number two in the Department of Justice, is obscenely unqualified to be a federal judge. We should be looking at him being disbarred as a lawyer, not to be failing up and promoted to a lifetime appointment on the federal bench.
1:09Michael Popok:And I'll also point out that it is quite unusual for the Department of Justice itself to put a ring fence around a judicial candidate coming out of the Department of Justice, The Department of Justice obviously violating what is the cardinal rule for any judicial nominee is that they be independent. It's an independent branch from the Department of Justice. It's not supposed to be the captive judge of the Department of Justice so that he always sides with the Department of Justice. But that's exactly what the Department of Justice, Todd Blanche, Pam Bondi have done for their buddy Bovee. But now we've got a second whistleblower.
1:51Michael Popok:Pandora's box is open. But the Senate and its MAGA Republicans don't care. They're going to go full steam ahead for a Thursday, a Thursday vote on the Senate floor. They've already invoked what's called cloture in a all party vote, except for Murkowski and Collins for the Republicans, 50 to 47. They're going to limit debate. So how is Cory Booker, the senator from New Jersey, where this court where this court is part of that process, the Third District Court of Appeals for Pennsylvania, for New Jersey, for other places? How is he going to be the leader on the Senate floor with limited debate opportunities?
2:35Michael Popok:Is it going to be another filibuster? What can he do to give time for this second whistleblower CNN has identified to be fully vetted by the Office of Inspector General? I'm going to cover it all here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. This matters. There is, as everyone knows, a tremendously, unnaturally strong relationship between Donald Trump, this judicial candidate and his Department of Justice. Emil Bovee left his big law firm to go work for Todd Blanche's solo practitioner office when Todd Blanche left or was forced out of his law firm because he wanted to represent Donald Trump in his criminal matters.
3:14Michael Popok:It was a two person office. Todd Blanche, Emil Bovee. That was it. So, of course, there's a loyalty factor with Todd Blanche. Likes the guy very much. Worked with him side by side to obtain whatever he could for Donald Trump. This is the same team that lost a 34 felony count conviction in New York on Donald Trump, but then got all the other criminal cases either dismissed or tied up long enough until Donald Trump became president. And are responsible in part for the immunity decision provided by the United States Supreme Court. And now Donald Trump wants to reward Emil Bovi by starting to place these people in positions of permanent power, like being a lifetime federal judge, not just in the Department of Justice.
4:00Michael Popok:That ends when Donald Trump's administration ends. But if he can handpick people like Alina Hava, shudder the thought, Emil Bovi, Judge Judge Jeanine Pirro, all the rest of these people, if he can shove these people through Senate confirmation and give them lifetime appointments, It will help change in a negative way the face of the judiciary. Now, what are the new allegations? They mirror for this whistleblower because they work together. The allegations of Erez Ruveni, who's already been outed, has already out, filed a 27-page single-space whistleblower complaint back in May, went to the New York Times for his one and only interview, which says he believes in the rule of law and that it's under assault by the Trump administration and that Emil Bovee led the charge.
4:48Michael Popok:that he and this whistle, first whistleblower, first whistleblower revelations, which have now been supported by this number two whistleblower who submitted his or her own letter to the Department of Justice Inspector General. He said that Emil Bovig got everybody together in March during the Alien Enemies Act, war powers used by Donald Trump to deport people and remove them without due process. He got them all in a room and said, you may have to have tell judges to go fuck off, to go F themselves, because you're not going to tell them exactly what we're doing. When the planes are leaving, when the planes are landing, when these people are being sent without due process to third countries like El Salvador, to killer prisons, where you're not going to tell them, you be prepared to tell them to go F themselves.
5:33Michael Popok:That is what Emil Bovi, sorry, Erez Ruvani said about Emil Bovi. Erez Ruvani, by the way, worked in the Department of Justice for over 15 years, including in the first Trump administration, where in the immigration litigation division, he had no problem promoting Donald Trump's, you know, insane, inhumane immigration policies. Then it's only when he told the truth to a federal judge, Judge Zinnis, about Abrego Garcia, did he get fired. Zinnis said there was an order of non-removal to El Salvador. Did ICE know about it when they removed Abrego Garcia? Yes. Have you done anything about it? Yes, I've counseled my lawyer, my clients in the Trump administration to return Mr.
6:20Michael Popok:Abrego Garcia. That didn't happen. He got fired. Pam Bondi said he wasn't being a zealous advocate because he wasn't willing to lie, effectively. And he then became the whistleblower. Much to his credit. He's not getting any money for it. He's not getting a better job because he blew the whistle on the Trump administration and on Emil Bovey. Did it against great personal sacrifice. Now we've got number two. This has come out after there was a 12 to 11 vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee all along party lines. A couple of people defected, you know, Collins and Murkowski. But 12 to 11 or whatever it ended up being, he got out of committee with this whistleblower being present.
7:05Michael Popok:And when Adam Schiff asked him, did you tell your lawyers to tell federal judges to go F off, that they could go F themselves, but you were not going to reveal information? He said, I don't recall. I said, I don't recall. It's a bad, bad start. As an attorney, podcast anchor, husband, and a father of a nine-month-old, I can't afford to eat empty calories that don't contribute to my overall health. But even the term nutrient-dense sounds boring. and may have you picturing very unfun and unsatisfying foods. And then I found CookUnity and their fresh flavors for every diet, including keto, gluten-free, and GLP-1 balance.
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9:08Michael Popok:Just heat in as little as five minutes. With CookUnity, you can enjoy restaurant-quality meals for a fraction of the price. Subscriptions start as low as$11 a meal. crush your health goals with mouthwatering chef-crafted meals delivered straight to your door. Go to cookunity.com slash legal AF or enter code legal AF before checkout for 50 % off your first week. That's 50 % off your first week by using code legal AF or going to cookunity.com slash legal AF. But yet the MAGA Republicans in fealty to their fearless leader voted to get him out of committee. Now we go to the Senate floor to cut debate on the Senate floor.
9:53Michael Popok:They voted 50 to 47 to limit debate. It's called cloture, C-L-O-T-U-R-E. Democrats are upset, but they got to do something about it. Cory Booker, Senator Kim, the other senators from Pennsylvania, all report into the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most prestigious of the courts of appeals. Now, let me also take a look on this hot take at this unprecedented and really mind-blowing support for a federal judge's candidate by the Department of Justice. Todd Blanche former law partner for Amo Bovi who worked together to represent Donald Trump should recuse himself from being a character witness or going to the press or the media to lobby for Amo Bovi can we all agree to that wouldn't that be appropriate Pam Bondi too let justice do its thing they got all excited They got all excited when Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the House, talked about why one person or another person should be disbarred or removed or lose their license or whatever.
11:22Michael Popok:Oh, he's interfering. It's a criminal interference. Why isn't this a criminal interference with this process to appoint an independent judge? So Todd Blanche goes and writes an op ed piece for Fox where he said that Emil Bove is Trump's DOJ champion and that he's the most principled lawyer he's ever known. Then you must not have known many lawyers if that's the best that you got based on the testimony that's come out in the whistleblower. And I don't think putting this badge on him of Trump's DOJ champion is I think that's the reason not to make him a third circuit court of appeal or expect him to be independent.
12:08Michael Popok:What's going to happen when an appeals case comes up to this guy? He's never been a judge before. When an appeals case comes up to him that deals with the Department of Justice and Donald Trump, can we just write the opinion now? it's going to be Emil Bove either in dissent or if he has the majority vote supporting the Trump administration there'll be no independence and then as things open at the United States Supreme Court this will be the feeding ground oh Emil Bove was a year on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals I'm now elevating him to the United States Supreme Court Alina Habba God forbid I'm appointing her here we go So the fact that Bondi and Blanche went to the confirmation hearings and sat behind Bovee, like they're making it personal about the Department of Justice, again, undermines not only the rule of law, but the separation of powers of these three allegedly co-equal branches of government.
13:11Michael Popok:So I'm going to continue to follow. I'll tune back in on Thursday when Emil Bovey's vote goes up. But I'm going to warn you now to manage expectations. We don't have the votes to block this. Murkowski and Collins are the only ones that said they're going to vote against him, and I don't even believe them. So it's going to be the Republicans control the Senate, and they have enough votes. This is going to fly by an extra two or three more votes than they even need. And Emil Bovi is going to be on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals for a lifetime appointment until he's elevated somewhere else by Donald Trump.
13:45Michael Popok:And this is the test case. If he can get him through, wait till you see the next round. This is the first judge in six months that Donald Trump has been able to get through a confirmation process. He hasn't gotten one of his U.S. attorneys confirmed in six months. This is the first judge. There's other judges in the pipeline. He's going to have 200 or more judges by the time this whole thing is over. That's why we need the Senate at the midterms to be returned to the Democrats so that we don't have cloture to limit debate on the Senate floor, so that we have vigorous investigations by the Senate Judiciary Committee in the hands of the Democrats.
14:19Michael Popok:You see, I know the polling is out there that the Republicans are all excited about showing that Americans don't like Trump by a lot. Independents hate him, but they don't like Democrats to run the government either. So we have a brand issue that needs to be worked through. I'll continue to help with that here on Legal AF and on the Midas Touch Network. In the meantime, come over to Legal AF, hit the free subscribe button, help us continue to grow that channel as well. Till my next report, podcast, or all things Legal AF, I'm Michael Popok. In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF YouTube channel.
14:54Michael Popok:Help us build this pro-democracy channel where I'll be curating the top stories, the intersection of law and politics. Go to YouTube now and free subscribe at Legal AF MTN. That's at Legal AF MTN.
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From the publisher
Emil Bove, Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, has a second whistleblower that’s filed a complaint with the DOJ Office of Inspector General, claiming that Bove promoted DOJ attorneys to disobey federal court orders related to the removal without due process of migrants. Michael Popok also calls out the obscene practice of the DOJ lobbying the public to support Bove for what is supposed to be an “independent” federal judge lifetime appointment, reminding everyone that Bove will be “Trump’s Judge” if confirmed this week.
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