Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, Jan. 30, 2025.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
Federal agents arrested a Wisconsin judge on Friday after she allegedly helped an undocumented immigrant evade arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Patel announced in an X post that Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan has been charged with obstruction for allegedly assisting Eduardo Flores Ruiz in avoiding arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week.
The tweet was quickly deleted. The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why the post was removed.
A U.S. Marshals Service spokeswoman confirmed to CNBC that Dugan was arrested at about 8:30 a.m. local time on courthouse property.
Dugan is in custody pending her planned presentment later Friday in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee on the obstruction charge, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News.
FBI Director Kash Patel on the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan.
FBIDirectorKash via X, formerly Twitter
Patel in his tweet wrote that the FBI believes Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from Ruiz as agents were attempting to arrest him at her courthouse.
“Thankfully our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public,” Patel said in the post.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday that the FBI was looking into Dugan’s conduct surrounding an attempted arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at her courthouse on April 18.
ICE did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. A person who answered a call to Dugan’s chambers declined to comment.
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