'Very chilling': Retired judge blasts Trump’s 'excessive' arrest of Wisconsin judge

25 Apr 2025, 20:16 by https://www.facebook.com/17108852506 · AlterNet

Retired New York State Supreme Court Justice Diane Kiesel on CNN on April 25, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)

Carl Gibson
April 25, 2025Push Notification

On Friday, FBI agents arrested Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, who was charged with two federal felonies. One former judge is now calling the arrest an "escalation" of President Donald Trump's war on the judiciary.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Dugan's arrest was first announced by FBI Director Kash Patel on social media before he deleted the post. The Trump administration is accusing the judge of "harboring" undocumented immigrant Eduardo Flores Ruiz, who was facing deportation, and for obstructing federal immigration enforcement. Ruiz was eventually arrested by federal agents after they chased him through an alley.

In a segment with CNN host Boris Sanchez, retired New York State Supreme Court Justice Diane Kiesel opined that the administration's decision to arrest Dugan was heavy-handed and that there were "other methods" they could have pursued.

"20 years ago in New York, a judge interfered with an arrest, and she got removed from the bench. The Justice Department could have complained to the Wisconsin State Commission on Judicial Conduct and said this woman overstepped her bounds," Kiesel said. "Arrest? That feels very chilling. And it and very concerning."

Kiesel said that even if assuming the Trump administration's allegations are true, the burden of proof on the government would be very high to succeed in a trial. She observed that the administration would have to prove in court that Dugan "intended to interfere with the arrest and that she was able to do so, that she was aware of what was going to happen outside the hallway when he left the courtroom and that she deliberately decided that she did not want that to happen."

"That feels like excessive to me," Kiesel said. "Overcharging is the word I would probably use."

"It is yet another example of the one entity that has been standing up to the administration, which is the judiciary. as we've seen in multiple cases around the country, the one entity standing up to the Trump administration may now be the target," she continued. "I can't tell you how strongly I feel that judges are sworn to uphold the law. If this happened, i don't necessarily condone it. However, going after judges by arresting them just feels like it's escalating this battle, if you will, between the administration and the judiciary. And it's a bad road to be going down."

Watch Kiesel's segment below, or by clicking this link.