WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is nominating his former criminal defense lawyer Emil Bove, who as a high-ranking Justice Department official was behind the controversial move to drop the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, to become a federal appeals court judge.

Bove was the driving force behind the dismissal of Mayor Adams’s criminal charges.

President Donald Trump announced he is nominating Justice Department official and his former defense attorney Emil Bove to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, a controversial nomination that would come as he continues to attack so-called "activist" judges for blocking his agenda.