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Ice will comply. That's just not a random observation. That is in an order that just came out in the last 24 hours by the Chief Judge of the Minnesota Federal Courts, Judge Schultz, who didn't take kindly to the fact that the Department of Justice, led by Donald Trump's leadership, so to speak, that Dan Rosen, the newly appointed U.S. attorney in Minnesota, has decided rather than comply with court orders which now number into the couple of hundred that have been violated in Minnesota alone by ICE by Department of Homeland Security. Oh no, they'd rather attack the judge in an email. This is shocking by the way. In an email to the judge on the public docket claiming that he distorted the record about the violations which required the judge to go back and check his facts and figures with all the rest of the judges in the district. And you know what? He found out he was wrong. They didn't violate 96 orders in the month of January in Minnesota, they violated 97. And since January they have violated another 130. ICE will comply. The Judge says ominously at the end of his order, or they will face criminal contempt. Judge Schultz, I believe, is one of the leaders of this new movement of federal judges to use the power of contempt in year two of the lawless Trump administration to bring them to heel. My new personal jam is going to be reporting regularly, maybe hourly, on contempt proceedings, civil and criminal, and I'll talk about the difference today in federal courts. It's what I said needed to happen. I never thought I'd have to coach federal judges. I've been appearing in front of them for more than 35 years on how to do their job and what awesome powers they have. But I think they're following the leadership of Judge Schultz here, just like they followed the leadership of Judge Zinnis in Maryland about how to handle things like when people get removed and sent to other countries against court orders. I think Judge Schultz is leading the way here. I want you to know more about his order. I've posted it on Legal AF substack and I'm glad you're here on Midas Touch and Of course, Legal AF YouTube channel. Take a minute. Hit the subscribe button there as well. Let's start from the headline. The headline is that Judge Schultz is growing, leading a growing chorus of federal judges, Minnesota, West Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts, you name it, including Trump appointees that are pointing out the open defiance as a regular routine, not an accident, by the Trump administration, Department of justice and otherwise, against court orders. And we've already had a series of contempt proceedings that have been started or have been found against the Trump administration. We just had contempt order issued by Judge Tostrett in Minnesota, by a judge in Massachusetts, Judge Stearns. We have the proceedings starting by Judge Bryan for a hearing next week in five separate or six separate cases in Minnesota. And listen to the words of Judge Schultz, who I believe again is one of the leaders here, the quarterback of the strategy. He says on page five of his order, if anything is beyond the pale, it is ICE's continued violation of the orders of this court. Increasingly, this court has had to resort to using the threat of civil contempt to force ICE to comply with orders. The court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt again and again and again to force the United States States government, not a random party, to comply with court orders. This court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt one way or the other. ICE will comply with this court's orders. I'll talk a minute, talk in a minute about the difference between criminal and civil contempt. I just reported yesterday in back to back orders coming out of New Jersey and out of Massachusetts, Judge Karashi in New Jersey, Judge Murphy in Massachusetts, Judge Qurashi, dealing with writs of habeas corpus, the great writ. That's what our framers and founders gave us. So if we ever get thrown into the dark dank cells of a federal detention center or prison, we would see the light of day, at least in a courtroom of a federal judge. And he said there's been violations of the great writ in New Jersey, in this district, in this court, and it ends now. Look at the language that federal judges have had to use. Besides, I've never in my history, and I've been a student of the law at least for 40 years, including my law studies, and I've read thousands and thousands and thousands of cases. I have never known of an era in history in which judges frequently resort to citing the founders, the Framers, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Madison, the Federalist Papers, George Orwell, lyrics from Bob Dylan, and such strong language as this. Judge Murphy, in his order in the last 48 hours, he said when he found that a removal, Trump's habit, nasty habit of removing people to third countries that they're not, that they're not, they have no connection to, like, oh, you're from Venezuela, well, we'll send you to Liberia and Africa. How's that as a punishment? He found that unconstitutional for obvious good reasons. He also said in his order that the Trump administration's position is as long as the person when they get off the plane isn't immediately shot, it's fine. And the judge said, it's not fine and it's illegal and unconstitutional. Now you have Judge Schultz. Now, what Judge Schultz is reacting to is that on January 28, now we covered it here on Midas Dutch and Legal af, he issued an extraordinary order in a particular case where he did a survey with his other justices, other judges in the District of Minnesota, and came up with 96 orders that had been violated in 76 cases. Now, this is not unique. Last week, the act, the person trying out to be the U.S. attorney in the District of New Jersey to replace Alina Abba, she wrote a letter to the chief judge there and said, or one of the judges there and said, we violated 56 in a month. I'm like, well, at least it's not 96. I mean, you're heading in the right direction. I mean, anything over zero is inappropriate. Starting something new, it's not just hard, it's honestly terrifying. I remember launching this podcast and the YouTube channel and thinking, what if nobody listens or watches? What if this doesn't work? But taking that leap turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made. And having a platform like Shopify would have made those early days way less stressful. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from brands just getting started to major names with hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand's style. It's also packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography. And if you ever get stuck, Shopify's award winning 24. 7 customer support is is always there to help. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.comlegal af. Go to shopify.comlegal af. That's shopify.comlegal a f but here the judge says, are you gonna. So. So he, he issues that, that observation, that survey. Well, Daniel Rosen, the new appointed U.S. attorney in the in Minnesota, didn't like that. So he did an extraordinary thing. He wrote an email to the judge, put up on the public docket where he accused the judge of wrongdoing. He said, judge, we did a survey, an audit of 12 of your 96 cases and we think you got some of it wrong and you owe an apology to my lawyers and it's beyond the pale and everything else. And the judge said, all right, all right. Because Mr. Rosen is on page three, made serious allegations against the undersigned and the other judges. The undersigned, Judge Schultz, asked each judge to go back and look at the cases that they had submitted for this list. And lo and behold, Rosa was right. He didn't he total apology. His department did not violate 96. His office did not violate 96 court orders in the month of January. They violated 97. Did you hear me? 97. Okay. And then as long as they were there, the judge says, let's update that number. So on page five, he says that after Rosen says in his email, for our part, we commit to the court that we will redouble our efforts to achieve compliance. We'll continue to find ways to improve. The judge says on page five, this too appears to be untrue. In other words, he's lied to the federal court. He said, here's a new appendix, A list of cases other than the 97 we originally found. He says, despite Rosen's assurances of redoubled efforts that led to considerable improvement, Appendix B documents 113 more orders that they violated in 77 cases in addition to the 97. And so that's when the judge says, never in the history of the United States has a United States government been found and threatened with contempt and noncompliance so many times. In his prior order in January 28, Judge Schiltz said, never in history has one agency ever violated in its entire history as many as ICE has violated in Minnesota in one month. Just, just remarkable. But what I the takeaway that I like is what we're starting to see in year two, which is what we've been encouraging on Legal af, which is that federal judges remind themselves of the awesome power that they hold. Inherent authority, statutory authority to use contempt, civil finding, willful violation of court orders. Then you can use fines, you can dismiss indictments, you can dismiss complaints, you can dismiss defenses. You can do all sorts, sorts of things. Then if they continue to do it, you can move and ratchet to criminal contempt. And that's what it sounds like, continued willful violation of court order. And somebody's going to jail. Somebody in the administration, probably ice, probably Homeland Security, after the judge does an evidentiary hearing, is going to the pokey until they stop violating. Now, they don't like it, they can go run to appellate courts and get them to try to stop it. You know, we'll see. We'll see what happens in the appellate courts. Sometimes the appellate courts side with the federal judges, sometimes they don't. But judges have the inherent authority to control their own dockets, their own courtrooms, and are given wide berth to do that. Look what federal judges are doing around the country. Just in the last week or so, a Texas judge, Judge Cardone, said that there was a worrying trend of missed deadlines. A West Virginia judge observed that there was by the Trump administration and Homeland Security, a general lack of respect for the law and sloppiness. You got Judge Tostran in Minnesota finding the administration in contempt. Judge Bryant in Minnesota about to find them in contempt. With a major hearing next week, Judge Karashi about to find them in contempt in New Jersey saying it ends now. Judge Murphy finding that the removals are unconstitutional. Judge Stearns finding the organ the Trump administration in contempt. This is what federal judges will need to do year one. Okay, I get it. You know, it was shock and awe by the Trump administration, Executive orders, you know, Operation Sieges, National Guard, you know, shooting and killing Americans on the streets. But now we gotta recover. And now we gotta get off the mat, find our teeth that were knocked out and put it back together and use the awesome powers that federal judges have. I've been doing this for more than 35 years. I. I'm an officer of the court. I'm sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution and be candid to the tribunal. And to be ethical, I would never think to willfully intentionally violate an order or violated order at all. Because I know what would happen. Besides my professional reputation, my law license, I know what would happen with the power of the federal judge. There is no more powerful judge on earth than a federal judge. And we will continue to to follow it here on Midas Touch and Legal AF until my next report, I'm Michael Pillpock. Can't get your fill of Legal af? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called Wait for it Morning af. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AOF are there as well. We got some new reporting, we got interviews, we got ad free versions of the podcast. Podcast and hot takes where Legal AF on substack. Come over now to free subscribe.
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Legal AF: "Fed Up Judge Threatens Trump Regime with Criminal Contempt"
Episode Date: February 28, 2026
Host: MeidasTouch Network
This episode of Legal AF, hosted by Michael Popok (filling in for Ben Meiselas, with Karen Friedman Agnifilo absent), delivers an in-depth analysis of a brewing legal confrontation between multiple federal judges and the Trump administration’s Department of Justice—particularly its immigration enforcement arm, ICE. The discussion is anchored around Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of Minnesota’s explosive order threatening ICE and the Department of Homeland Security with criminal contempt for repeatedly violating court directives, and how this signals a forceful judicial pushback against perceived lawlessness within the current administration.
"If anything is beyond the pale, it is ICE's continued violation of the orders of this court... This court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt. One way or the other, ICE will comply with this court's orders." ([03:10])
"I have never known an era in history in which judges frequently resort to citing the Founders, the Framers, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Madison, the Federalist Papers, George Orwell, lyrics from Bob Dylan, and such strong language as this." – Michael Popok ([05:20])
"His department did not violate 96 court orders in January. They violated 97. Did you hear me? 97." – Michael Popok ([09:30])
"Somebody in the administration, probably ICE, probably Homeland Security, after the judge does an evidentiary hearing, is going to the pokey until they stop violating." ([11:50])
"The Trump administration's position is as long as the person when they get off the plane isn't immediately shot, it's fine. And the judge said, it's not fine and it's illegal and unconstitutional.” – Michael Popok ([05:05])
On Judicial Authority:
"There is no more powerful judge on earth than a federal judge." – Michael Popok ([13:50])
On Historic Judicial Action:
"Never in history has one agency ever violated in its entire history as many as ICE has violated in Minnesota in one month." – Judge Schiltz, cited by Michael Popok ([10:05])
On Judge-Schiltz-vs.-Rosen Tangle:
"Appendix B documents 113 more orders that they violated in 77 cases in addition to the 97." – Michael Popok ([09:55])