The Trump administration arrested a “nonpartisan” Wisconsin judge with ties to left-wing activists after investigating claims that she improperly aided an illegal migrant.
The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday. The FBI began looking into her actions when she allegedly helped hide a migrant charged with violence from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
ICE agents visited the courthouse where Dugan sits on April 18 to arrest a migrant scheduled for a hearing with Dugan that day, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. Dugan reportedly directed the man and his lawyer to walk down a hallway toward another floor where the ICE agents wouldn’t find him.
The law firm representing Dugan did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Dugan’s LinkedIn profile says she is a member of left-leaning groups such as League of Women Voters, the Milwaukee Turners and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She also led a local chapter of the pro-immigration Catholic Charities.
Dugan, who ran as a nonpartisan in 2016, said in a newspaper interview at the time that one of her priorities at Catholic Charities was “measuring decisions against social justice principles.” She also declared that “diversity in the law is critical” while complaining that women were “underrepresented” in her field.
The U.S. Marshals Service processes suspects such as Dugan for booking after they are arrested. A spokesperson said he did not know at this time whether Dugan might be released pending her charges.
A Friday social media post from FBI Director Kash Patel — which he inexplicably deleted and then reposted — said Dugan faces charges of “obstruction” of a federal investigation. The FBI did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF.
“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,” Patel wrote. “Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public.”
Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican, already faced three counts of misdemeanor battery in Wisconsin before ICE nabbed him, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The first Trump administration charged a Massachusetts judge with obstruction over similar alleged conduct in 2019, saying she helped sneak an illegal migrant through the backdoor of a courtroom to evade ICE. The claims evolved into an investigation into the alleged incident by the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct in December.
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