Colleagues of one judge newly appointed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals by President Donald Trump were left deeply rattled and unsettled after new details of the man's deep-seated and unwavering devotion to Donald Trump, above all else, were revealed in a particularly disturbing way behind closed doors.
Judge Emil Joseph Bove III once served as Donald Trump's personal attorney before transitioning to a high-ranking DOJ appointment and, now, a lifetime federal judgeship he secured back in September at the hands of his own former client.
According to new reporting from the New York Times, Bove's colleagues on the 14-seat appeals court that serves Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware were recently left deeply unsettled and uncomfortable when they discovered that the newly Trump-appointed judge had the background of his iPhone set to the infamous photo of a bloodied Donald Trump raising his fist into the air following the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Times reports that three separate sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed that Bove's colleagues were visibly disturbed after laying eyes on the photo that filled the background of the judge's phone.
But that photo only serves as the very tip of what is a deep, unhinged iceberg of Bove's devout devotion to Donald J. Trump -- much of which has drawn formal scrutiny about the judge's ability to properly and impartially serve from the bench.
Back in December, Judge Bove found himself at the center of an ethics complaint that remains under review by the court's chief judge after he proudly attended one of Trump's campaign-style rallies. A move that was decidedly partial in every conceivable way.
Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner held no punches when she spoke with NYT regarding Bove's behavior, public appearances, and now the disturbing photo on his phone, and what all of that implies about a lifetime federal judgeship where people's lives and futures could rest in Bove's hands:
"When he was nominated, my concern was that he was not just the president's lawyer, but a zealot. He was doing and saying things that were inappropriate. And he's continuing to do so now."
At present, Bove has met the bare minimum legal and ethical requirements by recusing himself from cases directly related to his prior involvement with Donald Trump as his personal attorney. However, ethics experts have not minced words regarding Bove's attendance at public political rallies for the president, noting that it's extremely difficult to reconcile the judge's private political convictions with the required impartiality of a federal judgeship.
Retired federal judge Jeremy Fogel, who regularly consults on judicial ethics, told the Times: "While it did not pose an ethics problem, it did raise the question of how Judge Bove was balancing his private views with his public role. Particularly given his attendance at the Trump rally."
Bove's personal convictions surrounding Donald Trump and his policies and behaviors only serve as further reason for the American people to distrust our ENTIRE government.
