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Emil Bove
Acting United States Deputy Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byLisa Monaco
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byMarshall Miller
Personal details
Born1981 or 1982 (age 43–44)
Seneca Falls, New York, U.S.
Spouse
Sarah Samis
​
(m. 2012)​
Education

Emil Joseph Bove III (/boʊˈveɪ/; born 1981 or 1982) is an American attorney serving as the acting U.S. deputy attorney general. He is a former assistant United States Attorney and was a member of Donald Trump's legal defense team.[1]

Early life and education

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Bove is from Seneca Falls, New York. His father, Emil Bove Jr., is a retired assistant New York attorney general.[2]

Bove graduated from Mynderse Academy as his class salutatorian.[3][4] He attended the University at Albany, SUNY, where he was captain of the Albany Great Danes men's lacrosse team. Bove was named the America East Conference Male Scholar Athlete Award for 2002–2003.[5] He graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in public policy and economics summa cum laude.[3][6] Bove earned his Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University School of Law in 2008.[3]

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After graduating from law school, Bove clerked for Richard J. Sullivan, then of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2008 and 2009[2] and for Richard C. Wesley of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2010.[7]

Bove worked as an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell before becoming an assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he served as the co-chief of the national security and international narcotics unit.[8][9] While there, he led the unit's prosecutions of Nicolás Maduro,[10] Cesar Sayoc,[11] Tony Hernández,[12] and Fabio Lobo.[13] Bove left the office in 2022 to work in the private sector.[9] He became a partner at Blanche Law, the law firm established by Todd Blanche.[6] Donald Trump added Bove to his defense team in September 2023.[14] Bove and Blanche represented Trump in his election obstruction case,[15] classified documents case,[16] and falsification of business records case.[17]

After winning the 2024 United States presidential election, Trump announced that he would nominate Bove to serve as principal associate deputy attorney general.[18][19]

Acting Deputy Attorney General

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As acting deputy attorney general, Bove managed day-to-day operations for the Department of Justice's workforce of over 110,000 employees while awaiting Senate confirmation of Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General.[1]

On his second day in office, January 21, 2025, Bove instructed federal prosecutors to investigate local officials who declined to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.[1]

On January 31, 2025, as part of the ongoing purge of civil servants in the second Trump administration, Bove ordered the FBI to fire eight senior executives and compile a list of other employees involved in investigations stemming from the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[20][21][22] The reaction within the FBI to Bove's order was intensely negative.[23]

On February 5, 2025, Bove distributed a memo to the FBI workforce accusing bureau leadership of "insubordination" for refusing to identify Washington, D.C.-based agents who had overseen the January 6 investigation. When leadership declined to identify what Bove called the "core team", he expanded his directive to include all agents and employees who had participated in January 6-related matters.[24] This broader mandate prompted significant opposition within the FBI, resulting in non-compliance discussions and legal challenges from both individual agents and the FBI Agents Association.[24][25] His initiative to identify the alleged wrongdoers is called the Weaponization Working Group.[26] In response, FBI employees filed two lawsuits on February 4 seeking to block the collection and potential dissemination of investigators' names.[25]

Resignations

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See also: 2025 U.S. Department of Justice resignations

On February 10, 2025, Bove instructed federal prosecutors in New York City to dismiss without prejudice criminal charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams, because the "prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime" and "improperly interfered with Mayor Adams’ campaign in the [November] 2025 mayoral election", taking into account that charges were brought after "Adams criticized the prior Administration's immigration policies".[27][28][29] Bove stated that dismissal was "authorized by the Attorney General", "without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based", and that Adams' case would be reevaluated after Adams' mayoral election.[27][29][30]

On February 13, the interim U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Danielle Sassoon, and five other Justice Department prosecutors opted to resign instead of dropping the case against Adams, as they disagreed with the purported bases for dropping the charges. Sassoon wrote in her resignation letter that Adams' attorneys had asked prosecutors for a quid pro quo of Adams helping enforce Trump's immigration policies in exchange for dismissal of the charges; Adams denied there was a deal.[31][32] On February 13, Bove accused Sassoon of "insubordination and apparent misconduct".[33] Bove also characterised the intended dismissal of Adams' case as "the policy of a duly elected President".[34] Bove then gathered the remaining roughly two dozen public integrity division prosecutors, telling them that those who did not agree to sign the motion might be fired, while those who did sign might be promoted. Bove and two other prosecutors signed and filed the motion on February 14.[35] Bove wrote Sassoon that she and other prosecutors would be investigated by the attorney general under Executive Order 14147, entitled "Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government," signed by Trump on the first day of his second term, and Bondi's February memo entitled "Restoring the Integrity and Credibility of the Department of Justice."[36]

Personal life

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In 2012, Bove married Sarah Kwai Lin Samis.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Cohen, Luc (February 5, 2025). "Who is Emil Bove, the lawyer behind Trump's revamp of the US DOJ?". Reuters. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Sarah Samis, Emil Bove III". The New York Times. November 18, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Former Seneca Falls Man Leading President Trump's Legal Team". Finger Lakes Daily News. April 29, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  4. ^ "Trump attorney, Seneca Falls native Emil Bove tapped for top DOJ role". www.fingerlakes1.com. November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  5. ^ "UAlbany's Emil Bove, '03, wins America East top award". www.albany.edu. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Clark Porter, Susan (September 29, 2023). "Mynderse graduate joins Trump's legal team". Finger Lakes Times. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "UAlbany Magazine - Fall 2010 - University at Albany - SUNY". www.albany.edu.
  8. ^ "Emil Bove | Albany Law School". www.albanylaw.edu. May 10, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Adams, David C.; Ernst, Jeff (January 19, 2022). "New York anti-narcotics prosecutor leaves, raising questions about major drug trafficking cases". Univision. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  10. ^ Thrush, Glenn; Goldman, Adam; Bromwich, Jonah E.; Haberman, Maggie (February 7, 2025). "At Justice Dept., Trump's Former Criminal Defender Emerges as His Enforcer". The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2025. Mr. Bove was a player in high-profile cases, including the successful prosecution of Caesar Sayoc, a Florida man charged with sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and Trump critics. He also oversaw the indictment of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela on drug-trafficking charges.
  11. ^ "'We lied': NY prosecutors face heat in botched sanction case". Associated Press. February 23, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  12. ^ "Honduran president's brother convicted in US drug case". Deutsche Welle. October 19, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  13. ^ Raymond, Nate (May 16, 2016). "Son of ex-Honduran president pleads guilty to U.S. drug charge". Reuters. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  14. ^ Holmes, Kristen; Murray, Sara; Rabinowitz, Hannah (September 27, 2023). "Trump adds former federal prosecutor to his defense team Trump adds former federal prosecutor to his legal team as he faces multiple indictments". CNN. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  15. ^ Herb, Jeremy; Rabinowitz, Hannah; Lybrand, Holmes; Polantz, Katelyn; Sneed, Tierney (September 5, 2024). "Here's who is representing Trump during his election interference case hearing". CNN. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  16. ^ "Court hears longshot challenge by Trump attorneys to prosecutor's appointment in classified documents case". PBS News. June 21, 2024.
  17. ^ Italiano, Laura; Shamsian, Jacob. "Judge bench-slaps Trump lawyer 5 times on day one of hush-money trial". Business Insider. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Musgrave, Shawn (December 9, 2024). "Trump Justice Department Appointee Oversaw "Systemic" Misconduct in Previous Job". The Intercept. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  19. ^ "Trump picks his lawyer, Todd Blanche, as deputy attorney general". NPR. November 14, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  20. ^ Roebuck, Jeremy; Stein, Perry; Rizzo, Salvador; Leonnig, Carol D. (January 31, 2025). "Justice Department orders FBI purge, review of staff who touched Jan. 6 cases". The Washington Post.
  21. ^ Faulders, Katherine; Mallin, Alexander; Levine, Mike; Date, Jack; Katersky, Aaron; Thomas, Pierre; Barr, Luke (January 31, 2025). "DOJ seeks list of potentially thousands of FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases". ABC News.
  22. ^ Perez, Evan; Campbell, Josh; Rabinowitz, Hannah (January 31, 2025). "Trump DOJ demands list of thousands of FBI agents, others who worked on Jan. 6 and Trump investigations for possible firing". CNN.
  23. ^ Dilanian, Ken; Winter, Tom; Dienst, Jonathan; Reilly, Ryan J. (February 1, 2025). "Senior FBI official forcefully resisted Trump administration firings". NBC News.
  24. ^ a b Gerstein, Josh (February 5, 2025). "Justice Department official defends demand for FBI agent names, cites 'insubordination'". Politico. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  25. ^ a b Tucker, Eric; Durkin Richer, Alanna (February 5, 2025). "FBI agents who 'simply followed orders' in Jan. 6 probes won't be fired, a Justice official says". Associated Press. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  26. ^ Rabinowitz, Hannah; Perez, Evan; Reid, Paula; Polantz, Katelyn (February 11, 2025). "Top Justice officials who played key roles in January 6 cases now leading 'weaponization' review". CNN. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  27. ^ a b Reid, Paula; Pazmino, Gloria (February 10, 2025). "Justice Department directs prosecutors to drop federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams". CNN. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  28. ^ Coltin, Jeff; Anuta, Joe; Gerstein, Josh (February 11, 2025). "Trump's Justice Department moves to drop charges against Eric Adams". Politico. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  29. ^ a b "DOJ directs prosecutors to drop federal corruption case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams". abcny7.com. February 11, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  30. ^ MacFarlane, Scott; Milton, Pat; Legare, Robert; Triay, Andres (February 14, 2025). "Top DOJ officials, Manhattan federal prosecutor resign after receiving orders to drop Eric Adams case". CBS News. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  31. ^ Thrush, Glenn; Barrett, Devlin; Goldman, Adam (February 13, 2025). "Trump Official's Demand in Adams Case Forces Justice Dept. Showdown". New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  32. ^ Halpert, Madeline; Wendling, Mike (February 15, 2025). "Prosecutors ask to drop corruption case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams". BBC News. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  33. ^ Gurman, Sadie; Ramey, Corinne; Fanelli, James (February 13, 2025). "Top U.S. Prosecutors Resign After Order to Drop Eric Adams Case". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 14, 2025. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  34. ^ Halpert, Madeline; Wendling, Mike (February 15, 2025). "Prosecutors ask to drop corruption case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams". BBC News. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  35. ^ Roebuck, Jeremy; Jacobs, Shayna; Berman, Mark; Leonnig, Carol D. (February 14, 2025). "Justice officials move to drop Adams case after 7 lawyers refuse, resign in protest". The Washington Post.
  36. ^ "Read the letter from Emil Bove accepting Danielle Sassoon's resignation". The New York Times. February 12, 2025. Accordingly, the AUSAs principally responsible for this case are being placed on off-duty, administrative leave pending investigations by the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Professional Responsibility, both of which will also evaluate your conduct ... The investigation by the Office of the Attorney General will be conducted pursuant to, inter alia, Executive Order 14147, entitled Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and on the basis of the Attorney General's February 5, 2025 memorandum regarding Restoring the Integrity and Credibility of the Department of Justice.
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Political offices
Preceded by United States Deputy Attorney General
Acting
2025–present 		Succeeded by
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