AMNA NAWAZ: A top Justice Department official nominated by President Trump to serve as a federal judge faced tough questions from Senate Democrats in a hearing today.

Emil Bove, who worked previously as a criminal defense attorney for the president, has faced intense scrutiny for some of the DOJ's most aggressive actions in recent months, including the firing of prosecutors and FBI agents who investigated the president and the January 6 insurrection.

In his opening statement, Bove defended himself against recent criticism.

EMIL BOVE, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General: There is a wildly inaccurate caricature of me in the mainstream media.

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.

AMNA NAWAZ: Carrie Johnson covers the Justice Department for NPR and joins me now.

Carrie, great to see you.

CARRIE JOHNSON, Justice Correspondent, NPR: Thanks.

You too.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, before we get into some of the hearing details, tell us more about Mr. Bove's qualifications and why he's considered such a controversial pick for this role.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Well, he has a long record working in and around courtrooms.

He started as a paralegal for the Justice Department back in the day.

He graduated from Georgetown University's law school.

He clerked for two different federal judges, and then he went on to serve as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York for many years, leading a unit that prosecuted drug kingpins and accused terrorists, before going on to become the defense lawyer for Donald Trump.

And since January, he's been basically running the Justice Department's operations day to day.

Because the Justice Department has been engaged in a very aggressive campaign to both shrink itself and reorient its priorities, he's stood at the center of a lot of controversies already.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, a number of issues came up at this hearing.

Among them was he was asked about the decision to dismiss corruption charges against the New York City mayor, Eric Adams.

That was as Mr. Adams agreed to cooperate with Mr. Trump's immigration agenda.

Senator Blumenthal asked Mr. Bove if he'd spoken with Stephen Miller in the White House before making that decision.

Here's that exchange.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Did you talk to Stephen Miller?

EMIL BOVE: I'm not going to describe the participants in conversations.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: So you won't answer that question?

EMIL BOVE: No, I will not, Senator.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: Why?

EMIL BOVE: Because it is not appropriate for me to discuss.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: It is appropriate for you to tell us whom you consulted before taking action on behalf of the United States of America.

AMNA NAWAZ: Carrie, the fact that he would not answer that question, why is that important here?

CARRIE JOHNSON: It's significant because the allegation is that the Justice Department may have entered into a deal with Mayor Eric Adams that Adams would help Trump with immigration priorities in exchange for dropping the criminal charges, the criminal corruption case, against Eric Adams.

Now, Bove denied that was the case, but he refused to answer questions about his conversations with people in the White House, including Stephen Miller, for whom immigration is really the highest priority.

And it gives rise to questions about why he refused to answer that question and whether there were potentially improper conversations around that deal.

Remember, many prosecutors quit over the move to drop the case against Eric Adams and a judge ultimately found that it smacked of a bargain.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mr. Bove was also appearing the day after this bombshell whistle-blower report that accused him of basically instructing DOJ staff to ignore judges' orders, using an expletive according to the report, if they ruled against President Trump's deportation agenda.

Here's Senator Adam Schiff asking about that.

SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Did you say anything of that kind in the meeting?

EMIL BOVE: Senator, I have no recollection of saying anything of that kind.

To the extent I... (CROSSTALK) SEN. ADAM SCHIFF: Would you recall, Mr. Bove, if you said or suggested during a meeting with Justice Department lawyers that maybe they should consider telling the court, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you?

It seems to me that would be something you would remember, unless that's the kind of thing you say frequently.

AMNA NAWAZ: Carrie, we saw a lot of tough questions from Democrats on this.

What about from Republicans?

Did they express any concerns about that report or anything else?

CARRIE JOHNSON: No questions about -- controversial questions about the Eric Adams case, about the whistle-blower complaint.

A couple of Republican members asked questions about Bove's judicial philosophy.

But many of them actually congratulated him upon being nominated and seemed to suggest he'd have a relatively smooth path to being confirmed.

AMNA NAWAZ: What is your takeaway from watching the hearing?

Does it seem he will have a smooth path to being confirmed?

CARRIE JOHNSON: Well, it's possible that new information could come out about some of Bove's activities inside the Justice Department this year, or maybe even some information about his time in the Southern District of New York previously.

But Republicans have the math.

They have the votes if they all stick together to confirm him on a simple majority vote.

AMNA NAWAZ: So this is all taking place in a political arena, right?

Take politics out of it for a moment.

Among the folks you talk to, are there others in the legal world, for example, who have concerns about Bove's nomination.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Yes, what's interesting about this is that some figures inside the conservative legal movement are worried about Bove.

They think that he potentially could be more loyal to President Trump personally than to the facts and the law,and that questions about his temperament as a prosecutor could carry over into his job as a judge, if he's confirmed.

Judges have a lot of power, and they want to be sure that Bove's would exercise that power judiciously.

AMNA NAWAZ: So given what we have seen from Mr. Bove's past, knowing what we do about his relationship with President Trump, what would having someone like Mr. Bove in this role as a federal judge, a lifetime appointment, we should underscore here, what would it mean for President Trump?

CARRIE JOHNSON: Sure.

So Bove is 44 years old.

Potentially he could sit on the bench for 20 years or more.

President Trump has cast Bove as an ideal nominee for the bench, and he could basically represent a pivot from Federalist Society, kind of conservative establishment type judicial picks to ones with more personal ties to President Trump moving forward.

And we're going to have to wait and see how Trump approaches the additional judicial nominations he gets for the rest of his term.

AMNA NAWAZ: NPR's Carrie Johnson, thank you so much for being here.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Thanks.