The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities.
The FBI took Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan into custody on Friday morning at the county courthouse. She faces federal charges of concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.
In its two-page order, the state Supreme Court said it was acting on its own initiative and not responding to a request from anyone. Liberal justices control the court 4-3.
“In the exercise of that constitutional authority and in order to uphold the public’s confidence in the courts of this state during the pendency of the criminal proceedings against Judge Dugan, we conclude, in our own motion, that it is in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties,” the court ruled.
Her attorney had no immediate comment when reached by The Associated Press.
FBI Director Kash Patel claimed last week that Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from the immigrant in question, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.
Patel said that Flores-Ruiz was later arrested and is currently being detained.
Dugan has been charged with two counts of obstruction and was released from detention last week after making an initial appearance in federal court.
Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer from her court through the jury door last week after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the building and seeking his arrest.
Court documents suggest Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the hallway.
An FBI affidavit says Dugan was “visibly angry” over the agents’ arrival and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the arrest team inside the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with officers over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, she demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, the affidavit says.
After directing the agents to the chief judge’s office, investigators say, Dugan returned to the courtroom and was heard saying words to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer through the jury door into a nonpublic area.
The action was unusual, the affidavit says, 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.”
Dugan’s arrests has sparked outrage among Democrats, who have accused the Trump administration of trying to chill the judiciary. Demonstrators gathered outside the FBI’s Milwaukee field office Saturday to protest her arrest.
She is set to appear in court for arraignment May 15.
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