From Bork to Bove - The Destruction of the Judicial Confirmation Process
On October 20th, 1973, Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Mr. Cox was the special prosecutor investigating Nixon, including the Watergate break-in, the Daniel Ellsberg break-in, etc. Three months earlier, Alexander Butterfield revealed that Nixon had a secret recording system and had been taping nearly every conversation in the Oval Office. Nixon knew those tapes exposed his criminal activities and his virulent racism. After Butterfield’s testimony Nixon spent the next year trying to prevent the tapes from being published and attempting to salvage his presidency and reputation.
He knew that would not be possible with special prosecutor Cox investigating him. Cox had to go at all costs.
Richardson refused to fire Cox. He resigned on the spot.
Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Ruckelshaus refused and resigned.
Nixon found his man in then Solicitor General Robert Bork. Bork fired Cox, ending the special counsel investigation into Nixon.
You may not recognize these details, but you know the name coined to refer to them — The Saturday Night Massacre.
The resignations of the top two men at the Department of Justice and the ultimate firing of Cox were a massive political scandal, known until 2016 as one of the worst in American history.
There was an immediate backlash. Impeachment proceedings began less than two weeks after the firing. The Saturday Night Massacre was the beginning of Nixon’s downfall.
Bork was ostracized for carrying out Nixon’s coverup and his role in the massacre ended his political career.
Just kidding, Bork was named a circuit court judge by Ronald Reagan and then nominated to be a Supreme Court Justice.
The Never Trump Republicans, save Stuart Stevens, never acknowledge the throughline you can draw from Nixon to Trump. While six Republicans voted against Bork (which would not happen today), the message from President Reagan and the rest of the party was clear — the Republican Party was a fan of those who would protect the criminality of politicians.
Two men resigned rather than support this idea and that was a massive scandal.
Fast forward 50 years and the number of resignations in a nearly identical situation was SEVEN. And the Trump administration is so scandal ridden, it was hardly a blip in the news. The architect of this modern-day massacre was just rewarded with a lifetime circuit court judgeship.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is one of the most corrupt men in modern state politics. The charges against him were cartoonishly unbelievable and the evidence was overwhelming. Indicted for conspiracy, bribery, illegal solicitation, and fraud, the federal prosecutors had Adams dead to rights. This was a layup of a case.
But the Donald Trump administration wanted Adams’s cooperation in their immigration raids. They secured that by dismissing the case against Adams.
But they had a problem in getting to that dismissal - the career prosecutors who, like Richardson and Ruckelshaus half a century ago, refused to give in to a lawless president. All seven of those prosecutors were fired by Emil Bove.
Emil Bove became a US Attorney in 2012. He quickly became known for his anger issues and threats towards defendants. He was denied a promotion after multiple colleagues wrote a letter detailing his abuse. After Biden’s election, Bove became Trump’s personal attorney in the multiple criminal cases against the former president.
Trump reinstated Bove to the justice department at the start of his current term. Bove moved immediately to purge the Department of Justice of prosecutors who pursued cases against Trump’s January 6th attackers. Bove threatened those who did not assist in his purge. He also orchestrated the pardons of nearly everyone attacking the capitol that day.
Bove was tasked with getting the charges against Eric Adams dismissed.
Danielle Sassoon was the first to refuse. In a letter to Attorney General Bondi, she stressed her obligation to pursue justice without favor to the wealthy and powerful.
Hagen Scotten was next to resign rather than dismiss the Adams case.
Then Kevin Driscoll
John Keller
Rob Heberle
Jenn Clarke
Marco Palmieri
All 7 of these prosecutors gave up their careers rather than doing something they knew to be unethical.
Bove was furious. He told a further TWENTY prosecutors that if one of them did not step forward to dismiss the Adams case, every single one of them would be fired.
He got what he wanted. Though not supporting the action, a DoJ prosecutor signed the dismissal to protect everyone else. I do not think they did the right thing, but understand why they did it. Ire here should be directed at Bove and Trump, not the prosecutor who gave in.
Nixon’s wildest fantasies could not match this. With 5 more resignations than the Saturday Night Massacre, most people have not heard any of this.
Though appalling, this was not the largest example of Bove’s malfeasance.
On March 15, 2025, the ACLU learned that several planes were going to take hundreds of men to El Salvador to be imprisoned in CECOT. We have recently learned those men were beaten, tortured, and raped. Many of them had not been accused of crimes. Many of them were living in the US illegally. They were sent there as a show of force, with complete disregard that we were sending innocent men to a foreign prison.
Given the numerous issues with these kidnappings, Judge Emanuel Boasberg ordered the planes returned to the United States.
The Trump administration intentionally ignored that order.
And according to multiple whistleblowers, they ignored that order on the instruction of Emil Bove. Judge Boasberg found the government likely committed contempt. That contempt charge has been held up by the circuit court for months with no actions taken.
Bove was nominated by Donald Trump to a position on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. According to a whistleblower, he lied to the Senate during his confirmation hearings about his role in the DoJ firings.
The Senate confirmed Bove to the lifetime court position yesterday. If Trump names another Supreme Court justice, expect Bove’s name to be on the short list, not because of his keen legal mind, but because he is willing to do anything at all to protect Donald Trump.
I do believe we will defeat Donald Trump and Trumpism. I have recently realized the importance of encouraging hope and optimism.
But the damage Donald Trump has done to this country will not be undone in our lifetimes because of men like Emil Bove.
Robert Bork could only have dreamed about getting away with as much.
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