CNN Crime Reporter Says FBI Arrest of Judge ‘Not Unprecedented’ and Will Be Decided in Court: ‘They Have a Case’

CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz argued on Friday that the federal government has “a case” against Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan.

Polantz also said the arrest of the jurist was not without precedent and would likely be decided in court.

Dugan, 65, was arrested Friday by the FBI on charges of obstructing a federal agency and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. The charges stem from an incident at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 involving an illegal immigrant who was facing her in court.

According to a 13-page federal complaint, Dugan allegedly helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national, avoid arrest by federal immigration agents after he appeared in her courtroom for a pretrial conference.

Flores-Ruiz is facing three misdemeanor battery charges.

The charges against Dugan could carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and up to $350,000 in fines. She was released following her initial court appearance and did not enter a plea Friday.

On CNN’s The Arena with Kasie Hunt, Polantz responded to questions from the host about the case and concluded Dugan could be in serious trouble.

Critics of the Trump administration shared outrage at President Donald Trump after the arrest and accused him of targeting the judge amid his ongoing fight with the courts.

“Well, they have a case, and that case is going to go on in court,” Polantz said. “She hasn’t entered a plea yet. She was released after her appearance.” Polantz added:

But one of the things that I think should really be highlighted here is not – the case against the judge. It’s unusual, but it’s not unprecedented. There has been a case like this before in 2019 during the first Trump administration, charging a judge in Massachusetts who was accused of something very similar, trying to usher someone out of that courtroom as ICE officials were waiting for that defendant. In that case, that ended up being resolved. Those charges were dropped in the Biden administration against that judge in Massachusetts, but she ended up cutting a deal. So it was a legitimate case there as well.

In that 2019 case, Newton District Court Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph and former court officer Wesley MacGregor were indicted on federal obstruction charges.

They were accused of helping a twice-deported undocumented defendant leave a courthouse through a rear door to avoid immigration officials.

The charges in that case were later dropped during the Biden administration, according to CNN.

Watch above via CNN.