Senate Judiciary Committee advances multiple U.S. attorney nominations after heated dispute over Emil Bovee

Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee traded sharp accusations over the nomination of Emil Bovee to the U.S. Court of Appeals and related Department of Justice conduct, then moved forward to report several U.S. attorney nominations to the Senate floor.

The committee’s chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, opened the session by saying the committee would hold over three bills listed for the first time and that he planned to call votes at 10:30 if they had not already been taken. Grassley defended Bovee against what he called an orchestrated campaign of partisan attacks, saying his staff had reviewed whistleblower material and that "almost none of the material references Mister Bovee at all." He urged the body to "stick to the facts."

Why it matters: Democrats on the panel described a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct and demanded time to hear a whistleblower who they say has documentary evidence that Bovee suggested Department of Justice lawyers should tell federal courts "F U" when they issued orders the administration opposed. Committee Democrats argued those allegations and additional questions about Bovee’s role in DOJ decisions—particularly the handling of files and internal reviews connected to the Jeffrey Epstein matter and prosecutions arising from Jan. 6—warranted…