After a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Emil Bove played a pivotal role in federal prosecutors' efforts in Manhattan. He collaborated with the FBI to aggressively investigate, identify, and arrest rioters from the New York region. Four years later, Bove holds the position of acting No. 2 official in President Trump's Justice Department. In a surprising turn of events, he has openly criticized the Capitol riot investigation and initiated a purge of prosecutors—and potentially FBI agents—linked to January 6 cases.
The apparent disconnect between Bove's previous commitment to holding rioters accountable for the January 6 assault and his current opposition to the investigation has troubled former colleagues. Christopher O'Leary, a former top counterterrorism official in the FBI's New York field office, expressed his surprise. "At no point did I ever hear him or anybody else express concern about these investigations and these arrests that we were making," he said. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to inquiries about this shift in Bove's stance.
During the January 6 attack, Bove was the co-chief of the terrorism and international narcotics unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In that capacity, he supervised the office's work related to the Capitol attack, directing prosecutors to support the FBI and overseeing efforts to secure search warrants. According to O'Leary and a former prosecutor who worked alongside Bove, he was deeply involved in the investigation and never voiced reservations about it. On the contrary, he strongly encouraged prosecutors to pursue the investigation aggressively.
As co-chief, Bove participated in weekly meetings of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, gaining an overview of cases and operations, including those related to January 6. O'Leary noted, "I always had a good working relationship with him, was impressed with him as an attorney, as a trustworthy partner, as a committed professional to our counterterrorism cases."
Bove left the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan about a year after the Capitol riot. He transitioned to private practice and joined Trump’s legal defense team, alongside Todd Blanche, who is nominated to serve as deputy attorney general under Attorney General Pam Bondi. If confirmed, Blanche's appointment would make Bove his top deputy. Until then, Bove has been acting deputy attorney general.
In his current role, Bove has implemented personnel changes that have unsettled the department and the FBI. He reassigned several top career attorneys to a new office focused on immigration enforcement, effectively sidelining them. Additionally, he dismissed dozens of Capitol riot prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., criticizing their hiring as a subversive move by the Biden administration.
Bove's actions have extended to the FBI, where he has pushed out eight senior officials and requested the names of agents involved in January 6 cases. This demand sparked concerns about potential mass firings. Bove stated in an email to FBI employees that those who conducted investigations ethically should not fear termination, but those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent might face consequences.
After tense negotiations, the FBI, led by acting director Brian Driscoll, provided a list of bureau employees to the Justice Department. Driscoll, who worked on January 6 cases, including the arrest of Samuel Fisher in Manhattan, coordinated with Bove. Fisher eventually received a 120-day prison sentence for his activities at the U.S. Capitol, with Bove involved in reviewing legal paperwork for the arrest.
