Congress erupts over FBI arrest of Wisconsin judge

[orangecrush]

Democratic lawmakers reacted with ferocity — and some Republicans with cheers — to the Friday arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an undocumented defendant avoid arrest by ICE agents.

Why it matters: To Democrats, the arrest marks a significant escalation in President Trump's efforts to consolidate power and use federal law enforcement to crush legal obstacles to his agenda.

"It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges," said House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). "It's a whole new descent into government chaos."
"The Trump administration again is breaking norms in how it's dealing with immigration, the legal system, and normalcy. ... This is stuff I expect from Third World countries," Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) told Axios.
Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio): "They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order. This will have to be a red line for congressional Republicans. Unbelievable."
What happened: Dugan was arrested Friday morning at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Milwaukee County Circuit judge is in federal custody and was scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate later Friday.
A source familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest to Axios.
FBI Director Kash Patel, in a now-deleted post on X, accused Dugan of "intentionally misdirect[ing]" ICE agents who were attempting to arrest Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented defendant in her courtroom.
The other side: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) told Axios, "It is abundantly clear that many activist judges around the country have been acting politically in order to sabotage President Trump's agenda, and disenfranchise the 77 million Americans that voted for him."

https://www.axios.com/2025/04/25/fbi-arrest-judge-hannah-dugan-wisconsin-congress

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Statement of Senator Tammy Baldwin

Link to tweet

[wnylib]

28. The judge should be praised for helping the person avoidTrump's outsourced concentration camps in foreign prisons.

If the US ever returns to sanity, she will be praised and honored for her action.

[D_Master81]

36. If

It’s still TBD if that ever actually happens.

[ForgedCrank]

41. While I

may agree with her on the subject matter, I can't get behind this sort of thing. We can't have judges deciding which laws to uphold, that is the very thing that causes a breakdown of a working system, and it nullifies the power of the people we elect to write laws on our behalf. It is also a blatant violation of the oath that they take. This is a steep slope that we shouldn't be encouraging. The cure is in our elected representatives.

[bronxiteforever]

2. Judge Dugan should have been a Supreme Court Justice

The GOP lets them do everything and GOP donors pay your family’s tuition, mortgages and even buy you an RV!

[Bo Zarts]

3. " .. some Republicans with cheers .." Stupid, stupid people.

Reminds me of one of my favorite lines in Erich Maria Remarque's great anti-war (WW-1) novel All Quiet on the Western Front:

"The wisest were just poor and simple people. They knew the war to be a misfortune, whereas those who were better off, and should have been able to see more clearly what the consequences would be, were beside themselves with joy.

Katczinsky said that was a result of their upbringing. It made them stupid. And what Kat said, he had thought about."

All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque

Stupid, stupid Repubs. Besides themselves with joy .. cheering for the desolution of our democracy. But what the hell .. their cult leader thinks that Purple Hearts are cool.

Folks, we are totally fucked.

[rurallib]

13. they will pay in the long run

[GusBob]

4. '"and some Republicans with cheers"

As I indicated earlier, Trump will be crowing and posting about this by noon tomorrow, calling her all sorts of names and the usual lies, etc
He will also brag up that jackwagon Patel, and blast the FBI under Biden

Thats his MO

[Mister Ed]

5. Is this the same administration whose leader pardoned and freed all of the convicted January 6 criminals?

Even those who had done violence to police officers?

[Raven]

6. What are the Democrats going to do about it? I'm sort of tired of all the talk.

[Vinca]

7. What have they got besides talk? We haven't got the numbers to do anything.

[Raven]

9. Well, I guess they'll have to think outside the box for a change.

[Doremus]

19. Somehow the Turtle was able to gum up the works pretty well

Despite his minority status he was able to bring the senate to a halt and pulled maneuver after maneuver out of his magic hat. WTF can't the Dems? Is it defeatism, apathy, laziness, what? Yes, we know arresting a judge is beyond the line --- what are we going to do about it for heaven's sakes???

[hadEnuf]

23. How did the Republicans gain so much ground with their bald-faced lies?

We actually have facts and truth on our side, yet we go nowhere.

We all need to really think about what we are not doing or what we are doing wrong.

We need to use their own right-wing Republican tactics against them for a start. Forget this "high road" and "we don't want to be like them" nonsense. This is war.

[Mr. Evil]

38. It's called Focksnooze (Fox News).

Their whole business model is telling a certain percentage of our society (the gullible rubes, racists, bigots, etc.) what they want to hear (positive reinforcement from a blonde on the TV). Therefore they watch again and again. And again. Eventually they begin to see (gleefully) and accept this behavior as normal and anyone that questions it as abnormal.

Krasnov, TSF, could care less. He's participating in the ultimate reality TV show. Ratings, ratings, ratings are all that matter. Even on this website most threads are about him. He could care less. He's special. He could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue blah blah blah. The CIA and the NSA most likely have so much traitorous and treasonous info on this consummate asshole it would sink a fucking ship. What do we hear from them... huh? Anything? So, all the untold billions of dollars spent funding them amounts to absolutely nothing. You want waste, fraud and abuse? Start with them. They get to have fun playing their 'cat and mouse' games.

None of this shit is about making America great again. When were we great? When were we not great? We actually have a quite sordid past if you take 5 fucking minutes to read anything about it. So what. We're always a work in progress (you know, 'in order to form a more perfect union'). Eventually, we get a few things right. And then again. And then again. But, then we get billionaires who want for nothing and need nothing. Except power. Their purchasing power is excited by nothing. Except when it comes to purchasing people. You know, judges, politicians, et al. To them, that shit is ultra exciting. Doing good for society, what a fucking joke. What a fucking laugh! Are you fucking kidding me!? They have the attitude of they'd rather be feared than liked and respected. Why, you ask? The answer is simple... Power. Their warped power fantasies. That's it. But, all they are really accomplishing is creating thousands and thousands of Luigi Mangione's. And then thousands more. This planet is finite and there is ultimately, no place for them to hide.

[uponit7771]

30. GET ARRESTED NOW !! Stop some congress from doing some shit, stand in the way and make more noise. If that's all we

... we got that's what we'll use.

[Sky Jewels]

21. Don't worry. Schumer will probably draft a sternly worded letter...

and he might even send it!

[ImNotGod]

35. IDK, maybe we should ask Garland, he can be found eating milk and cookies while watching reruns of Mr Rogers

Neighborhood.

[Passages]

8. Republicans hate democracy.

[JBTaurus83]

10. Really?

"Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio): "They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order. This will have to be a red line for congressional Republicans. Unbelievable."

Earth to Greg, they have no red lines.

[lindysalsagal]

11. If he can arrest state judges, he can arrest Congress members, too.

They better dump him while they still can. It's choice time: him, or congress.

[progressoid]

12. Which is why they are all toeing the line.

The republican ones that is.

[Iamscrewed]

14. Rebel

We're going to end up fighting in the streets for our survival.

[Historic NY]

15. Was he in her court. Then he was under the control of the Judges court & jurisdiction.

He was in her court for pre-trial on the charges that they say were the reason for the arrest. Those were state charges that were in the trial process. Somebodys in trouble and it isn't the Judge.

Ice admits to be staking out the court.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/who-is-eduardo-flores-ruiz-mexican-immigrant-judge-hannah-dugan-is-accused-of-helping-101745605011312.html]

[Mossfern]

17. THIS is the issue

if it was in her court. I'd love to see the timeline and the actual actions taken. Did thy arrest her in court?

[patphil]

16. Activist Judges sabotaging Trump's agenda?

The problem with Trump's agenda is that it doesn't follow the rule of law, so Judges uniformly around the country are opposed to it.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, district 3 in Wisconsin, won by less than 12K votes in 2024.
I hope his praise for this despicable action sinks him in 2026.

[jalan48]

18. We had a coup attempt in January 2021. The coup folks are now in power and they are doing what they want.

Outrage means nothing to them, it' s just an empty gesture they delight in laughing at.

[Sky Jewels]

22. If Biden hadn't appointed Merrick fucking Garland,

and had appointed someone who actually wanted to preserve democracy as AG, we wouldn't be in this mess.

[jalan48]

25. Exactly. The fact that Garland never called it a coup attempt was telling.

The wife of a Supreme Court Justice was involved and we didn't get shit in the way of law enforcement. All we got now is outrage and victimhood and that's not going to stop the Nazis, but it makes us feel better I guess.

[JustAnotherGen]

33. We should remember

Their intolerable acts.

[Hornedfrog2000]

20. And to think,

We had the chance to put the real criminals in prison, and garland, et al. Shit their pants and decided playing nice with a felon was the wise move. Someone should arrest him if anyone.

[Evolve Dammit]

24. "Cheers" and "Ferocity." Yep. Civil War

[Blue Owl]

26. Is he dead yet? Is he dead yet? Is he dead yet?

Do us all a favor and end your misery, you goddamned fat fuck.

Jesus fucking Christ….

[Emile]

27. The end of three equal branches of government.

Way to go Republicans, and they cheered.

[rich7862]

29. If the criminal arrest of a judge stands, we all better leave the country. Before we are forced to stay.

[moonshinegnomie]

31. arrest patel

2 can play at that game.
send wisconsin police to forcibly arrest him at his house and drag his ass back to wisconsin. after all laws dont have any meaning after all anyway.
....

[kelly1mm]

34. WI law enforcement has no jurisdiction outside of WI. nt

[moonshinegnomie]

37. as i said,laws dont matter anymore under herr shitgibbon

[Grins]

32. "Kash Patel, in a now-deleted post..."

Gee; I wonder why…?

[Lokee11]

39. Ann Jacobs - illustratiing that this is BS!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220269277

[orangecrush]

40. Thanks

[dchill]

42. Try to keep this in mind, Derrick...

..."President Trump's agenda..." is unconstitutional and illegal, so...

Judges tend to not like that.