Judge arrested
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The FBI is looking into whether veteran Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest when that person was scheduled to appear in her courtroom last week, sources told the Journal Sentinel.
In an email to judges, Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley said agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement came to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant. But his note made no mention of Dugan or a federal investigation into her conduct.
ICE spokesperson Alethea Smock declined to comment.
"We have no information to provide at this point," Smock said in an email.
The FBI said in an email on April 23: "As a standard practice, the FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations."
The Journal Sentinel reached out to Dugan by phone, at her courtroom and via email in recent days. In an April 22 email, Dugan said, "Nearly every fact regarding the 'tips' in your email is inaccurate."
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Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was charged April 25 with two felonies for her role in helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week.
Dugan, 65, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries during a brief hearing in a packed courtroom at the federal courthouse. Dugan, who was wearing a black dress with white flowers, made no public comments during the brief hearing.
As it ended, her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, told the court: "Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety."
The federal criminal charges have not yet been made available.
But Brady McCarron, spokesman for U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C., said Dugan is being charged with two federal felony counts: obstruction and concealing an individual. McCarron also confirmed Dugan was arrested at about 8 a.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi posted on X: "I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan – a county judge in Milwaukee – for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov."
Earlier, FBI Director Kash Patel posted and later deleted a tweet about the arrest.
"Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing 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."
