Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” this evening to speak out against the nomination of Emil Bove — one of Trump’s personal lawyers with an extensive track record of unethical and unprofessional conduct and political retaliation — to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and to condemn the Trump Administration’s continued refusal to release the Epstein files, despite the President’s public promises to do so. After Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum visited Alcatraz earlier today, Padilla also criticized the Trump Administration’s unrealistic and wasteful proposal to reopen Alcatraz as a federal prison, highlighting the “exorbitant” costs to taxpayers of bringing the facility up to even minimum modern standards.

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Bove’s nomination this morning as Padilla and Committee Democrats boycotted the vote in protest of Republicans’ blatant violation of Committee rules, which they used to jam through nominations, including Bove and “Judge Jeanine” Pirro to serve as United States Attorney for D.C., without public debate. At his nominations hearing, Padilla slammed Bove for his role in firing dozens of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases and his pledge to disregard lawful court orders that check presidential power.

Key Excerpts:

On Emil Bove’s nomination and Senate Judiciary Republicans ignoring Senate rules:

• “What happened today in the Senate Judiciary Committee is just the latest example of Republicans not just tearing down the norms of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the Senate as a whole.”

• “Affording Senator Booker an opportunity to ask questions or even to call for a vote on bringing forward…the whistleblower that has come up publicly about Emil Bove’s comments, things like the targeting anybody involved with the prosecutions around January 6, things like, if court orders that come out against what the Trump Administration wanted, they’re just going to ignore them. I mean, the Committee deserves to hear it directly and to consider it before any confirmation votes on Emil Bove. Republicans don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to hear it.”

On Bove’s potential connection to the Epstein case and Trump Administration’s refusal to release Epstein files:

• “Emil Bove’s the number three top official in the Justice Department. With everything going on around the Epstein case, and the Epstein files, the involvement of the Attorney General herself, he’s probably been in the room. He’s probably been at the table. What role did he play in determining there is a list, there isn’t a list, should we release files or not? The Committee deserves to hear this before taking action, but this Republican majority doesn’t want to hear it. They’re trying to squelch any information that Donald Trump doesn’t want to go out and Democrats aren’t going to be a party to that.”

On the Trump Administration’s unserious proposal to reopen Alcatraz as a federal prison:

• “Here they go again, right? It’s nothing but bad news for Donald Trump, between the Epstein files, between economic indicators, prices are going up. So in classic Trump fashion, let’s distract. Right? Let’s talk about something else. Alcatraz is not a serious proposal. The cost of bringing that up to minimum standards to serve as a detention facility — we’ve been hearing from Republicans all year long. They want to reduce the federal budget. They’re looking for cost savings, not unnecessary, exorbitant costs.”

• “This is just another effort to distract from the horrible news brought to you by the Trump Administration.”

Video of the full interview is available here.

During his Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, Senator Padilla pressed Bove on his extensive track record of lies, poor temperament, and political retribution. Earlier this week, Padilla joined Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in calling for Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to schedule a hearing to collect testimony from Mr. Erez Reuveni, former Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Immigration Litigation at the Department of Justice, who disclosed allegations of misconduct and documentation regarding Bove. Previously, Padilla joined Senate Judiciary Democrats in requesting personnel records relevant to Bove from Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. Padilla and Senate Judiciary Democrats also filed a professional misconduct complaint against Bove with the New York State Bar, citing reported misconduct in moving to dismiss charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

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