May 13 (UPI) — A federal grand jury in Wisconsin has indicted Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, whose arrest last month on allegations of helping a migrant evade federal arrest prompted dozens of legal professionals to accuse the Trump administration of trying to intimidate the judiciary.
Dugan was charged in a two-count indictment on Tuesday.
The court document accuses her of knowingly concealing a person whose arrest warrant had been issued in order to prevent their apprehension, and corruptly endeavoring to influence, obstruct and impede the administration of law enforcement.
UPI has contacted her legal representation for comment.
FBI agents arrested Dugan on April 25 for allegedly misdirecting federal agents to allow Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented migrant, to evade arrest earlier that month.
According to the affidavit supporting her arrest, Dugan was presiding over an April 18 hearing involving Flores-Ruiz in a domestic abuse case when agents arrived to arrest him over his immigration status.
After confronting federal agents in the court’s hallway, she is accused of escorting Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of her courtroom.
Flores-Ruiz was able to leave the courthouse, but then led federal agents on a foot chase before being taken into immigration enforcement custody.
The development comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
During the increased law enforcement targeting of undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden administration policy prohibiting immigration enforcement action in or near courthouses.
While the previous administration said such arrests hindered the administration of justice, the current administration has argued that the policy “emboldened criminal illegal aliens” and being able to make arrests at courthouses “is common sense.”
The arrest of Dugan was met with swift condemnation from those in the legal profession, who viewed it as another Trump administration attack on the judiciary.
More than 140 retired state and federal judges sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a letter earlier this month condemning what they described as attacks against judges who do not rule in the Trump administration’s favor.
“The intent to intimidate Judge Dugan and the judiciary is clear from the circumstances of Judge Dugan’s arrest,” the group said.
“The circumstances of Judge Dugan’s arrest make it clear that it was nothing but an effort to threaten and intimidate the state and federal judiciaries into submitting to the Administration, instead of interpreting the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
Dugan has been temporarily removed from her duties by the Wisconsin Supreme Court following her arrest.