No One Above the Law: FBI Arrests Wisconsin Judge for Obstructing ICE Operation
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan Charged with 2 Felonies in ICE Case
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest on X this morning.
“Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on charges of obstruction — after evidence surfaced that Judge Dugan obstructed an immigration arrest operation last week,” Patel wrote. “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi also confirmed the arrest, explaining on Fox News that "The judge learned that ICE was outside ... She goes out in the hallway, screams at the immigration officers — she's furious, visibly shaking, upset — sends them off to talk to the chief judge. She comes back in the courtroom ... takes the defendant and the defense attorney back in her chambers, takes them out a private exit and tells them to leave."
Her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, told the court at the federal courthouse where Dugan appeared after her arrest: “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.”
Hopefully, this arrest and any future arrests send a strong message to judges that they shouldn’t be making judicial decisions based on politics. Instead, they should focus on enforcing and following the law through their rulings. It’s also promising that the FBI and DOJ — including Kash Patel and Pam Bondi — are seemingly finally taking action and doing what Trump was elected to do. Perhaps this is a sign of more good things to come.
