DOJ files misconduct complaint against Minnesota federal judges

Schiltz says remarks were within ethical rules for federal judges

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a judicial misconduct complaint Wednesday against two named federal judges and six unnamed colleagues in Minnesota who spoke to The New York Times about the Trump administration’s immigration operations in the state. The complaint names U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz and U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim, along with what it labels “Anonymous District Judges.”

The complaint arises from a Sept. 17 Times article headlined “Trump’s Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns.” According to the Justice Department, Schiltz took part in a 90-minute interview with the newspaper for the story, and Tunheim was quoted by name in it. The complaint says six other federal judges in Minnesota also spoke to the Times.

Schiltz, in his interview with the Times, said the Trump administration’s actions “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 newspaper. “It is something that you absolutely need to survive, and yet it’s something that people just take for granted.” The Times noted in the article that Schiltz declined to discuss ongoing cases.

The Justice Department’s complaint argued that judges are “ethically prohibited from commenting publicly on cases pending in any court and making political or policy statements concerning matters that are or have been before them.”

At a news conference Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the judges’ comments showed “obvious bias” and described them as “overtly political.”

The complaint asked for a judicial investigation into the other federal judges who spoke to The Times, and requested that Schiltz and Tunheim recuse themselves from any matters involving the Department of Homeland Security.

In a statement Wednesday, Schiltz said he was “acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to The New York Times.” He cited a judicial committee opinion that said judges are allowed to speak and write on “core judicial matters.” “That is exactly what I did,” he said.

Tunheim declined to comment on the complaint Wednesday. In the Times article on Sept. 17, he countered a Homeland Security claim that immigration enforcement was targeting “the worst of the worst.” “They weren’t arresting, in my view, people who were dangerous criminals on the street,” Tunheim said.