Federal Judge Targeted by DOJ Complaint Fires Back, Says Legal Ethics Experts Confirmed Conduct Was Proper

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

A federal judge fired back at Attorney General Todd Blanche after the Department of Justice filed a misconduct complaint against him and several of his colleagues, stating that his conduct was approved by legal ethics experts.

Blanche announced the complaint in a press conference Wednesday, accusing senior Judge Patrick Schiltz , Judge John Tunheim, and additional “Anonymous District Judges,” all with the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, of making “improper and unethical comments” to The New York Times.

Schiltz was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush and previously had clerked for stalwart conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; Tunheim was appointed by President Bill Clinton.

The complaint refers to a Times article dated Sept. 17, headlined “Trump’s Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns.”

Numerous legal experts sharply criticized the DOJ’s complaint, both for its broad sweep of nearly the entire Minnesota federal court and for its subject matter.

Schiltz issued a statement defending himself against accusations he had violated ethical rules, as reported by Politico:

“As legal-ethics experts have confirmed, I was acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to the New York Times,” Schiltz said “Indeed, in February of this year, the Committee on Codes of Conduct issued an advisory opinion to emphasize that federal judges may ‘[speak] and [write] on core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence.’ That is exactly what I did.”

The Politico report added that a “court spokesperson” had responded on Tunheim’s behalf, “echoing Schiltz’s statement that the comments were permitted under federal rules for judges.”

Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney cited an order Tunheim had entered on Wednesday as a sign the judge “doesn’t appear to be fazed by DOJ’s suggestion he recuse himself from ICE/habeas cases.”

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