A letter signed by more than 75 former state and federal judges opposing the nomination of a Department of Justice official, Emil Bove, for a seat on the Third United States Appeals Court illuminates how Mr. Bove’s candidacy has become a flashpoint for President Trump’s efforts to shape the federal judiciary. 

The letter, signed by such liberal lions as Judge Shira Scheindlin along with conservative jurists like Judges Michael Luttig, Timothy Lewis, and Paul Michel,  contends that “Mr. Bove’s egregious record of mistreating law enforcement officers, abusing power, and disregarding the law itself disqualifies him for this position.” It also cites allegations that Mr. Bove “explicitly plotted to violate court orders and direct law enforcement officers to engage in illegal acts.”

The numbers, though, appear to favor Messrs. Trump and Bove. A swing vote on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Tillis, a Republican who is retiring, has signaled that he supports moving the nomination to the full Senate. For Mr. Bove to take his seat on the Philadelphia-based appellate court, he would then need the support of a simple majority of the world’s greatest legislative body, where Republicans enjoy a 53 to 47 advantage, with Vice President Vance as a potential tie-breaker to block the troika of Republican senators — Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitch McConnell — who often vote against Mr. Trump’s more polarizing nominees and initiatives.

In a hearing last month before lawmakers Mr. Bove, the principal associate deputy attorney general, told lawmakers, “I am not anybody’s henchman. I’m not an enforcer. I’m a lawyer from a small town, who never expected to be in an arena like this.” The judges who oppose Mr. Bove, though, maintain that his nomination sets “a dangerous precedent that judicial power may be wielded in service of personal fealty.”

Among the judges who signed on to the démarche denouncing Mr. Bove’s “egregious record” is Judge Michael Luttig, a former circuit rider of the Fourth United States Appeals Court. A committed conservative, he was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush and once he retired his judgeship, became a fierce foe of Mr. Trump. Judge Luttig was one of the leaders of the effort to disqualify Mr. Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot as an insurrectionist on the basis of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

The Colorado supreme court agreed with that position, a ruling that Judge Luttig called “unassailable in every single respect under the Constitution of the United States.” The Supreme Court, though, ruled unanimously that the Centennial State had overstepped its authority in blocking Mr. Trump from the ballot. Judge Luttig testified before Congress that “Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy.” He voted for Vice President Harris in the 2024 election. 

Mr. Bove, a native of upstate New York, served as Mr. Trump’s personal defense attorney in the Stormy Daniels case before the 47th president appointed him to the upper echelon of the Department of Justice. He directed the effort to drop criminal bribery charges against Mayor Adams, which precipitated a wave of resignations and accusations that the DOJ was engaged in what the presiding judge called a “bargain” to drop the case in exchange for cooperation on immigration. Mr. Bove accused the acting United States attorney who defied him, Danielle Sassoon, of violating her oath.

Democrats seeking to torpedo Mr. Bove’s nomination are pointing to a whistleblower report filed by a former DOJ prosecutor, Erez Reuveni, a holdover from the Biden justice department, who was first suspended and then fired after he declared in court that the Trump administration mistakenly deported a Salvadoran national, Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Mr. Reuveni now claims that Mr. Bove urged his staff to ignore court orders, and insisted that a coarse epithet was an appropriate response to judges who ruled against the administration.

Senate Democrats argue in a statement released this week that “Mr. Reuveni has made credible allegations against Mr. Bove, which, if true, clearly disqualify him for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.” The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Grassley, a Republican, on Tuesday declined a request from Democrats to have Mr. Reuveni testify about his experience working for Mr. Bove. 

Mr. Trump has written on Truth Social that “Emil is SMART, TOUGH, and respected by everyone. He will end the Weaponization of Justice, restore the Rule of Law, and do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Emil Bove will never let you down.” Mr. Bove testified that his representation of Mr. Trump was “a decision to fight for what was right and fight for the rule of law.          

A legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, writing in the Times, reckons that “the nomination of Emil Bove III to a federal appeals court suggests that President Trump has a new prototype and a new agenda when it comes to the law: Out with the eggheads and in with the street fighters.”