Trump judge unsettles colleagues with provocative phone background photo

A disturbing detail emerged from behind closed doors at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals: one of the court's newest judges appointed by Donald Trump was keeping a provocative political image on his phone.

Judge Emil Joseph Bove III, who transitioned from Trump's personal lawyer to a high-ranking DOJ appointment to a lifetime federal judgeship in September, had set his iPhone background to the photo of the bloodied Donald Trump raising his fist after the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt.

According to the New York Times, the photo, described by three people with direct knowledge of it, sparked visible discomfort among Bove's 13 colleagues on the 14-seat appeals court serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

The phone background is just the surface, the Times is reporting. Beyond that private memento lies questions about his behavior that have drawn formal scrutiny. In December, Bove attended one of Trump's campaign-style rallies—an appearance that triggered an ethics complaint now under review by the court's chief judge.

Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner didn't mince words about what Bove's conduct, including the photo, suggests.

"When he was nominated, my concern was that he was not just the president's lawyer, but a zealot," she told the Times. "He was doing and saying things that were inappropriate. And he's continuing to do so now."

Bove has so far recused himself from cases directly related to his prior work for Trump, a step that meets the bare minimum legal requirement. But ethics experts say his rally attendance raises broader questions about whether his private convictions can be reconciled with the judicial role.

"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," said Jeremy Fogel, a retired federal judge who consults on judicial ethics, told the Times. "Particularly given his attendance at the Trump rally."