FBI arrests Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly obstructing ICE agents, Director Kash Patel says
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A Wisconsin county judge was arrested and charged with obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week, FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan appeared in federal court on Friday morning and has since been released, the Associated Press reported. Her next court appearance is May 15. Brady McCarron, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C., told the press that Dugan is being charged with two federal felony counts: obstruction and concealing an individual.
“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest," Dugan's attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing. according to AP. "It was not made in the interest of public safety."
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An FBI affidavit accuses Dugan of escorting the man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, and his lawyer out of the courtroom through a jury door on April 18 when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the courthouse.
In a post on X, Patel said Dugan, 65, was arrested for “intentionally misdirecting” federal agents who came to her courthouse to detain an immigrant who was set to appear in front of her in an unrelated court case. Patel posted the same message earlier on Friday, but had deleted it before reposting.
"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."
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the FBI arrested Dugan "for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest" by ICE. "No one is above the law," Bondi said on X.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a statement accusing the Trump administration of undermining the country's judiciary "at every level."
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"In this country, people who are suspected of criminal wrongdoing are innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt and they are found guilty by a jury of their peers — this is the fundamental demand of justice in America," Evers said.
Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, said in a statement that while all of the facts about Dugan's arrest haven't been confirmed, "the implications of this arrest are chilling."
"This Administration has shown brazen contempt for the judiciary," Raskin continued. “Every American should be deeply troubled by this massive escalation."
Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the FBI was investigating Dugan for trying to "help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest."
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The publication reported that Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley had sent out an email to judges alerting them that agents with ICE had come to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant, but his email didn't name Dugan specifically.
The news outlet confirmed that Dugan was arrested at 9 a.m. ET on Friday, noting that Ashley had confirmed Dugan's arrest in an email to courthouse officials.
What we know about Judge Hannah Dugan
Dugan is in her ninth year as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, and her current judicial term expires in 2028. She is a former Milwaukee Bar Association president.
Her legal career, according to the Journal Sentinel, has been focused on civil law and civil leadership. She primarily oversees cases within the Circuit Court's misdemeanor division.
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Court records show that Dugan had 25 misdemeanor cases on April 18, with Flores-Ruiz's case scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET.
What we know about Eduardo Flores-Ruiz
Flores-Ruiz, 30, is a Mexican immigrant who was facing three misdemeanor battery charges. He was in Dugan's courtroom for a pretrial conference on April 18, represented by a public defender, the Journal Sentinel reported.
What does the FBI say happened on April 18?
The FBI's affidavit claims Dugan was notified by her clerk that ICE agents had entered the courthouse. Dugan is described as having been "visibly angry" that immigration agents were in the hallway and asked one of the officers if they had a judicial warrant.
After allegedly arguing with the ICE team, Dugan sent them to the chief judge's office, the affidavit states. That's when, according to investigators, Dugan ushered Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer into a private area of the courthouse. The affidavit classifies this as unusual because “only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door. Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.”