DOJ accuses Minnesota federal judges of misconduct for NY Times immigration interviews

People participate in a "national shutdown" protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jan. 30, 2026.Alex Wroblewski | AFP | Getty ImagesThe Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a judicial misconduct complaint against all but one Minnesota federal judges on active status for interviews they gave to The New York Times that criticized the Trump administration's handling of immigration enforcement cases in the state.The DOJ asked the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to force the recusal of all seven judges who spoke with The Times from any case involving the Department of Homeland Security. The complaint also asks the 8th Circuit, which handles cases arising from the District of Minnesota, to investigate what the DOJ called "the judges' improper and unethical conduct" in speaking to the newspaper. The complaint singles out Senior Judge Patrick Schiltz and Senior Judge John Tunheim, who were quoted by name in the article, which ran under the headline "Trump's Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns." Schiltz until July 1 had served as chief judge in the District of Minnesota, having succeeded Tunheim in that role in 2022.Schiltz had issued a Jan. 28 order demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement stop violating orders issued by Minnesota federal judges in cases related to a surge in immigration enforcement actions in the state. Schiltz told The Times that ICE's violations of the orders "created a grave threat to the rule of law."Tunheim was quoted by The Times after a paragraph that said the judges considered that most of the detainees whose cases they handled "seemed to be ordinary people with homes and jobs," and not immigrants who DHS officials claimed were "the worst of the worst.""They weren't arresting, in my view, people who were dangerous criminals on the street," Tunheim said, according to The Times.US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaks next to Attorney General Todd Blanche during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., US, Sept. 30, 2026. Kevin Lamarque | ReutersThe other judges spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity."Judge Schiltz and Judge Tunheim, at least, have flagrantly violated the Code of Judicial Conduct with their improper and unethical comments to the New York Times," says the complaint by acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr.Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a statement, said, "Seven federal judges in the District of Minnesota talked to the New York Times about cases, some of which are on-going, in a manner that the Department of Justice views as a clear violation of their ethical duties.""Their conduct has undermined public confidence in an impartial judiciary in Minnesota," Blanche said.