Emil Bove’s confirmation to the Third Circuit was already a Category 5 ethics disaster, what with the whole alleged “let’s defy federal court orders we don’t like” thing. And he’s still in the infancy of his lifetime tenure, but Bove’s showing that’s enough time to already have an ethics complaint filed against him. Because you can put a political operative on the bench, but you can’t take the political operative out of the judge… because the whole reason you put them on the bench was to stay a political operative.
Bove spent his evening yesterday attending what can only be described as a full-throated MAGA campaign rally in Pennsylvania. And when reporters asked why a sitting federal appellate judge was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the red-hat faithful while Donald Trump railed against Democrats in a highly partisan speech, Bove shrugged it off with a breezy: “Just here as a citizen coming to watch the President speak.”
Sir. You are a federal judge. You don’t get to switch that off like a light switch so you can vibe at a rally where the headliner screams about “radical left Democrats.” This is why the Code of Conduct for US Judges says “a judge should refrain from political activity” and shouldn’t go to events “sponsored by a political organization or candidate.”
To give a little flavor of the kind of partisan event we’re talking about, Bloomberg Law reports Trump bashed “the radical left Democrats in Congress,” criticized Joe Biden as “the worst president in the history of our country,” called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “one of the dumbest governors ever in our history,” and said Rep. llhan Omar “and the people from Somalia” “hate our country” and “think we’re stupid people.”
Given the absolutely glaring problem here, it’s no surprise that Gabe Roth at Fix the Court has already filed a judicial ethics complaint with the Third Circuit. And Roth’s filing makes the obvious point that Bove’s “just a citizen!” excuse dissolves on contact with common sense.
There is no prohibition, of course, against a federal judge attending an event at which a President is speaking. For example, Supreme Court justices attend the State of the Union each year as a show of unity among the branches and their shared commitment to our tripartite form of government, and judges and justices are at times guests at White House at state dinners.
But last night’s event in Pennsylvania — prominent conservative voices are calling it a “rally,” so that’s what I
will call it here — was a far cry from the State of the Union or a state dinner for its abject partisanship. It should have been obvious to Judge Bove, either at the start of the rally or fairly close to it, that this was a highly charged, highly political event that no federal judge should have been within shouting distance of.
Listen, if Bove wanted a life of MAGA rallies, he had options. He could have stayed a political operative. Then he could have attended every MAGA-palooza up and down the East Coast. But he chose to become a federal judge, and that role is dependent upon the public accepting the fiction that judges are above the political fray.
Bove ripped that fiction to shreds in front of a cheering crowd… which in 2025 probably means he’s ready for the Supreme Court.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
The post Judge Emil Bove’s MAGA Rally Field Trip Sparks Judicial Misconduct Complaint appeared first on Above the Law.