FBI arrests Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly obstructing ICE agents, Director Kash Patel says

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.

“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest,” Dugan's attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing. per AP. “It was not made in the interest of public safety.”

Patel said, in a since-deleted post on X, that Dugan 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. It wasn’t immediately clear why Patel deleted his post.

“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.

Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the FBI was investigating Dugan for trying to “help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest.”

The publication reported that Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley had sent out an email to judges alerting them that agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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 Friday morning, noting that Ashley had confirmed Dugan's arrest in an email to courthouse officials.

Officials have not formally confirmed that Flores-Ruiz is the defendant Dugan is accused of helping, as Patel says in his deleted post. Flores-Ruiz, 30, is a Mexican immigrant who was facing three misdemeanor battery charges. He was in Dugan's courtroom for a pre-trial conference on April 18, the Journal Sentinel reported.

This is a breaking news story. Please refresh this page for updates.