Justice Department official seeks disqualification of Minnesota judges

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the third-highest-ranking official at the Justice Department, has filed motions to disqualify two Minnesota federal judges, Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim, from separate immigration cases. The motions claim that comments the judges made to the New York Times regarding the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in Minnesota call their impartiality into question.

One case overseen by Judge Schiltz involves the administration’s attempt to strip a Minnesota resident of his U.S. citizenship. The second case, assigned to Judge Tunheim, involves charges against a South African national accused of illegal voting in the 2024 election. A hearing regarding the motion against Judge Schiltz is scheduled for November 23.

This move follows a recent attempt by Woodward to disqualify U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes from a case involving a public golf course in Washington, D.C. Judge Reyes rejected that motion, accusing the Justice Department of using “selective quotations to bring a baseless recusal motion.”