DOJ Goes After Judges Who Spoke With New York Times

The Justice Department is taking aim at a group of Minnesota federal judges over what they told the New York Times. On Wednesday, the DOJ filed a judicial-misconduct complaint accusing seven District of Minnesota judges of breaching ethics rules by voicing concerns about the Trump administration's handling of immigration enforcement cases in interviews with the paper, reports CNBC. The result of those interviews was a Sept. 17 article titled "Trump's Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns," reports CBS News.

The department is asking the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to order all seven judges off any case involving the Department of Homeland Security and to investigate their conduct. The complaint names Judges Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim, who spoke on the record, with Schiltz sitting for a 90-minute interview. "They weren't arresting, in my view, people who were dangerous criminals on the street," Tunheim told the Times. The other judges spoke anonymously. "Judges who covet publicity rather than follow the rule of law by adjudicating cases or controversies undermine the public's confidence in an impartial jury," said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter in a press release.