Ahead of final Senate confirmation vote this week, Senators seek clarity from DOJ’s Inspector General on existence and status of any investigations into conduct exposed by multiple whistleblowers in recent weeks.
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote to the Acting Inspector General at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to determine if they are conducting any ongoing investigation into Emil Bove, the DOJ official whose past misconduct is under scrutiny ahead of his confirmation vote to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
“As the Senate approaches a final vote this week on Mr. Bove’s nomination to serve as United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, it is imperative that Senators exercise their constitutional duty of advice and consent with full knowledge of Mr. Bove’s actions,” the Senators wrote. “We therefore request that you clarify for Senators whether your office is undertaking any investigations of or related to Mr. Bove. In the event these whistleblower complaints and other reports have not already prompted investigations by your office, we urge you to undertake a thorough review of these disclosures and allegations.”
The Senators cite the new whistleblower disclosures that corroborate the pattern of Bove’s abuse of power while serving as a senior political appointee at the Justice Department.
“Each of these allegations are alarming. Taken together, they paint a picture that Mr. Bove likely violated laws and Department regulations, and abused his authority while acting as one of the Department’s most senior officials,” the Senators wrote.
The letter comes in the wake of growing whistleblower complaints that Bove abused his authority as a senior political appointee at the DOJ, including suggesting that DOJ attorneys should ignore court orders to carry out Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Background:
Last week, Schiff urged Senate Republicans to reject the dangerous nomination of Bove in a speech on the Senate Floor, laying out Bove’s long record of misconduct dating back to his days as a prosecutor.
After a whistleblower report from a former high-ranking DOJ official alleged that Bove encouraged government lawyers to ignore court orders, Schiff and other Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats pushedfor further investigation of Bove’s conduct in light of released text messages, email exchanges, and documents further supporting the whistleblower’s claims.
Schiff and his Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues have also been seeking relevant records pertaining to Bove’s conduct.
Read the full text of the letter here and below:
Dear Acting Inspector General Blier:
In light of new and troubling whistleblower disclosures to your office and to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding allegations of official misconduct by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, we write to clarify whether your office is undertaking any investigations of or related to Mr. Bove. In the past six months, extensive reporting uncovered that Mr. Bove abused his authority as a senior political appointee at the Department of Justice (DOJ). This includes directing subordinates to violate court orders, personally threatening anti-corruption prosecutors with dismissal and investigation, and directing prosecutors to dismiss criminal charges in exchange for Eric Adams’ cooperation on Trump Administration’s mass deportations agenda. Earlier today, public reporting revealed that another previously undisclosed whistleblower has “presented documentation that contradicts claims Bove made before the Senate Judiciary Committee about a Justice Department prosecution.” Each of these allegations are alarming. Taken together, they paint a picture that Mr. Bove likely violated laws and Department regulations, and abused his authority while acting as one of the Department’s most senior officials.
Mr. Bove’s misconduct is not just depicted in news reports, but is documented meticulously by former senior DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni i n his June 24, 2025, whistleblower complaint and subsequent supporting documents. On July 25, 2025, another former DOJ attorney courageously came forward to publicly expose Mr. Bove’s misconduct. Attorneys for this new whistleblower report that their client “provided substantive, internal DOJ documents” to the Office of the Inspector General on June 13, 2025. These additional documents purportedly confirm the shocking allegations of Mr. Bove’s disregard for our judicial system, as already documented by Mr. Reuveni.
As the Senate approaches a final vote this week on Mr. Bove’s nomination to serve as United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, it is imperative that Senators exercise their constitutional duty of advice and consent with full knowledge of Mr. Bove’s actions. We therefore request that you clarify for Senators whether your office is undertaking any investigations of or related to Mr. Bove. In the event these whistleblower complaints and other reports have not already prompted investigations by your office, we urge you to undertake a thorough review of these disclosures and allegations.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this important request.
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