DOJ ramps up fight against federal judges after some in Minnesota speak to media about immigration surge cases

By Tierney Sneed, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department is filing a judicial misconduct complaint against nearly all the federal judges in Minnesota, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday, in an escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and the judicial branch which came to a head during the winter surge of immigration enforcement actions.

Blanche said the demand that the judges be disqualified from immigration-related cases was prompted by a recent New York Times article in which six federal judges described the Justice Department’s failure to comply with court orders during the surge as a grave threat to the rule of law.

In their comments, judges focused on how DOJ staffing shortages appeared to inhibit the administration in its ability to comply with their orders – similar to comments they have previously made in legal settings. But Blanche on Wednesday said the comments were “overtly political” in violation of judicial rules and that they reflected an “an obvious bias” against the Department of Homeland Security.

While the ethics complaint is pending at the federal appeals court that the oversees Minnesota’s federal bench, Blanche is calling on the district court judges to recuse from DHS-related cases.

The demand, however, may not have much impact as previous efforts and public complaints have gone nowhere.

The Trump administration has tried various tactics to strike back at judges they see as hostile to the President Donald Trump’s agenda. That has included an unsuccessful DOJ lawsuit – filed against the entire federal bench in Maryland – challenging an order covering that court that limited the ability of the administration to quickly remove migrants who are challenging their deportations.

It has also included a willingness by top Trump officials to use exceptionally sharp language to publicly call out judges by name for rulings they disagree with.

As courts across the country have faced aggressive public pushback from the president and his allies for rulings that that blocked Trump policy initiatives, judges have rung alarms about how the heated rhetoric has raised the specter of threats and intimidation.

“These judges talked to the media, or at least to the New York Times, about cases some of which are ongoing, in a matter that the department views as a clear violation of their ethical duties,” Blanche said.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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