By Steve Neavling
Emil Bove has a reputation for bulldozing through norms.
As acting deputy attorney general, he has pushed out Justice Department lawyers, demanded the names of FBI agents involved in investigating the Jan. 6 attack, and forced prosecutors to drop charges against New York’s mayor — all moves that critics say serve Donald Trump’s interests rather than justice, the Associated Press reports.
That aggressive approach is nothing new. In 2018, Manhattan defense attorneys were so alarmed by Bove’s conduct as a federal prosecutor that they sent an email to his superiors calling him “reckless” and in need of “adult supervision.” Instead of dialing it back, Bove pinned the email to his office corkboard, treating it as a badge of honor.
Bove spent nearly a decade as a hard-charging prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, specializing in drug and terrorism cases. He helped indict Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and oversaw controversial prosecutions that drew complaints from fellow prosecutors and defense attorneys. One case fell apart in 2020 when a judge found Bove’s team engaged in “prosecutorial misconduct” by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence.
Now, Bove is reshaping the Justice Department in Trump’s image. On Feb. 14, he gave prosecutors an hour to comply with his order to dismiss the Adams case, even after others had resigned in protest. His demand for a list of thousands of FBI agents who worked Jan. 6 cases has been viewed by some as a prelude to a purge.
Legal experts worry Bove is wielding power to settle Trump’s scores, not enforce the law. Former federal prosecutor Christine Chung, who has litigated against him, put it bluntly: “What he enjoyed most as a prosecutor was wielding power—the single worst possible trait for a public servant.”
