DOJ pushing to remove 2 Minnesota judges

The Justice Department is escalating a legal battle with Minnesota's federal judges. Government lawyers want to disqualify two judges from separate immigration cases, claiming the judges recently crossed the line into political commentary. Fox 9's Paul Bloom is breaking this one down tonight. So, Paul, the Trump administration questioning the judges' neutrality in these cases. Simone, a pair of motions filed just this week. the DOJ is demanding the U.S. District Court judges John Tunheim and Patrick Schiltz step down from a pair of current cases that are on their docket right now. It all goes back to a mid-September New York Times article where both judges went on the record to talk about the legal fallout from Operation Metro Surge. Now the Department of Justice says those interviews compromise the judge's ability to be impartial. Take Judge John Tunheim's case, for example. He's presiding over the trial of a defendant accused of voting illegally as a non-citizen. The government says because Tunheim told the New York Times that authorities weren't arresting, quote, dangerous criminals out on the street, it shows that he is biased against enforcing immigration and election laws. Meanwhile, Judge Schiltz is overseeing a civil case where the DOJ is attempting to strip a man of his citizenship, claiming that the man obtained it illegally. The government wasn't happy that Schiltz, chief judge during the surge, sat down for this 90-minute interview with the Times accusing the administration of displaying a, quote, disregard for court orders. So, Paul, the New York Times article wasn't Judge Schiltz's first interview, was it? You sat down with him earlier this year, right? Yeah, good memory here. Simone, we spoke to the judge in an interview that received far less scrutiny. Now, our conversation focused on the logistics the courts faced during the surge, given the unprecedented level of litigation that accompanied the federal immigration sweeps across Minnesota. Here were some of his thoughts at the time. That was one of the most difficult things about this for us judges is that, as I said, they were literally these petitions were being filed from early morning till late at night. And if I went to a movie for two hours or just wasn't near my iPhone for two hours, that could be the difference between somebody being put on a plane and sent to Texas or somewhere else and someone being ordered released and returning to their family that night. So there was kind of an emotional toll as well as just the work and the time. anytime you were doing something that was not work you you kind of felt guilty like you should be working because somebody's somebody might really be harmed by the fact that i went to the movie or i went out to dinner with friends judge schiltz here in his own words now despite the doj's complaints a spokesperson for minnesota's u.s district court is defending the judges here saying they acted well within ethical rules by talking about core issues like the rule of law Looking ahead, Judge Schiltz has scheduled a hearing on this recusal motion for next month, while Judge Tunheim hadn't taken any action on his just yet when I checked the court system earlier today. Paul Bloom, Fox 9.