DOJ files misconduct complaint against Minnesota judges

Avery Lotz

A man with dark hair wearing a dark suit, a white collared shirt, a blue tie and an American flag pin (Todd Blanche) speaks into a microphone at a news conference while another man in a blue suit, a white collared shirt and a red tie (Markwayne Mullin) stands behind. — Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks alongside U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin during a news conference on September 30 in D.C. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The Justice Department filed a complaint against a group of federal judges from Minnesota for speaking to The New York Times about the impact of the immigration enforcement surge on their court.

The big picture: The complaint opens a new front in the Trump administration's standoff with federal judges, bolstered by a loyal Justice Department.

Driving the news: The complaint, which was brought against two jurists who spoke on the record with the paper and those who spoke anonymously, alleged the behavior was "improper and unethical" and called for the judges to be recused from any DHS-related matters.

It further urged the Eighth Circuit to investigate.

"As legal-ethics experts have confirmed, our judges were acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to the New York Times," Rebeccah Parks, the court's public information officer, said in a statement to Axios.
She pointed to an advisory opinion from the Committee on Codes of Conduct that emphasized that federal judges may speak and write on "core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence."
She added: "Our judges acted within this capacity."

What they're saying: But Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that "[t]heir conduct has undermined public confidence in an impartial judiciary in Minnesota."

Two senior district judges, Patrick J. Schiltz and John R. Tunheim, were named in the complaint.

Zoom in: In his interview with The Times, which reportedly lasted 90 minutes,Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee who served as chief judge, discussed the violations of orders issued by the district court and said the experience "created a grave threat to the rule of law."

"The rule of law to democracy is like oxygen to a human body," he told The Times. "It is something that you absolutely need to survive, and yet it's something that people just take for granted."
Senior district Judge Tunheim, who was appointed by Bill Clinton, told the Times, "They weren't arresting, in my view, people who were dangerous criminals on the street."

Friction point: The Times said that Schiltz "declined to discuss ongoing cases."

But the DOJ argued in its complaint that their "unethical" and "partisan" commentary concerned still-pending matters related to the surge.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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DOJ files misconduct complaint against Minnesota judges

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