A legal analyst for conservative television station Newsmax accused the Trump administration of going on a “bit of a jihad” against judges in its public arrest of a sitting judge last week.
During an appearance on Newsmax Monday night, Judge Andrew Napolitano, a senior judicial analyst for the channel, argued that the Trump administration had gone too far by arresting Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan, and doing so in such a public manner.
“I think they overreached by arresting her,” Napolitano said.
“In a white-collar case with a public official, like there was here in New York with Mayor Adams. You don’t stop them on the street and put handcuffs on them. You say to his lawyer, ‘We need to talk to you about whether or not you will voluntarily surrender because we’re about to charge you with a crime,’” Napolitano explained.
“But because they’re on a bit of a jihad against judges, they decided to make an example out of this,” Napolitano continued. “I think this is the wrong case out of which to make an example. I think she has immunity.”
Dugan was arrested on obstruction charges for supposedly misdirecting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents away from Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an immigrant attending a pretrial hearing. According to the Department of Justice’s filing, Dugan allegedly let Florez-Ruiz exit the courtroom through a side door typically reserved for a jury. He then used a public hallway in the courthouse to get into an elevator and exit the building before ICE officers could stop him.
But Napolitano argued that Dugan had the authority to “decide where a person leaves her courtroom from and what she says to that person, and she can’t be prosecuted for it.” Napolitano noted that while there had been no arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz, the FBI had been able to receive an arrest warrant for Dugan from a magistrate judge.
In fact, ICE officials had received an administrative warrant for Flores-Ruiz, which, unlike a judicial warrant, does not allow agents to enter private spaces and was not signed by a judge.
If Dugan is convicted, the charges may result in a maximum penalty of six years in prison.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has been touting Dugan’s arrest as a crackdown on “deranged” judges attempting to aid and abet undocumented immigrants that the Trump administration wants to round up, and deport.
Dugan’s arrest is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to thwart judges that oppose the president’s political agenda. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wouldn’t rule out arresting Supreme Court justices.
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