First of two parts.
Adam Kinzinger joins me on a special emergency Friday “To the Contrary” podcast…. the second part will air this weekend. But we had to talk about this breaking story:
Some early reax:
"Unbelievable": Congress erupts over FBI arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan
"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."
Wisconsin top politicians react to Milwaukee judge arrest in ICE case
Sen. Tammy Baldwin called the arrest "a gravely serious and drastic move" that "threatens to breach" the government's constitutional separation of powers. And Rep. Gwen Moore, who represents Milwaukee, said the arrest had "all the hallmarks of overreach."
"Federal law enforcement coming into a community and arresting a judge is a serious matter and would require high legal bar," Moore said shortly after Dugan was charged. "I will be following this case closely and facts will come out, however, I am very alarmed at this increasingly lawless actions of the Trump Admin, and in particular ICE, who have been defying court orders and acting with disregard for the Constitution."
Still, several Wisconsin Republicans on Capitol Hill applauded Dugan's arrest.
GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is considering a run for governor in 2026, wrote on X: "If you help illegal aliens evade arrest, you will be arrested."
BONUS: Excellent point by one of Milwaukee’s most prominent defense lawyers:
Franklyn Gimbel, a prominent Milwaukee defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, called Dugan’s arrest “outrageous.”
“First and foremost, I know -- as a former federal prosecutor and as a defense lawyer for decades – that a person who is a judge, who has a residence who has no problem being found, should not be arrested, if you will, like some common criminal,” Gimbel said. “And I'm shocked and surprised that the US Attorney's office or the FBI would not have invited her to show up and accept process if they're going to charge her with a crime.”
He said that typically someone who is “not on the run,” and facing this type of crime would be called and invited to come in to have their fingerprints taken or to schedule a court appearance.
He said law enforcement showing up to arrest her, was “very, very outrageous, in my opinion and not professional.”
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