Judge delivers defeat to Hannah Dugan’s attempts to derail pending criminal trial
A Wisconsin judge who is accused – and soon on criminal trial – for allegedly helping a criminal illegal alien try to escape from federal officers has been handed a series of defeats in a motions hearing.
A federal judge handling the immigration-related case for suspended Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan said Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI chief Kash Patel are not going to be on the defense’s list of mandatory witnesses.
Further, he said she could not argue that her behavior, allegedly criminal according to an indictment, had to be allowed because they were part of her judicial duties.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Bill Clinton appointee, largely ruled against the defense on several of the foremost bids to help her case, reports said. She is scheduled in weeks for trial, and could end up with several years in prison.
Law & Order reported, “The court’s order does not contain unalloyed wins or losses for either the government or the defense, but the Trump administration will likely be more pleased with the overall results than Dugan.”
The judge barred the defense from making arguments over punishment, jury nullification or discover.
Also, how Dugan was arrested.
Dugan had claimed comments from Patel and Bondi were relevant to show bias.
“[W]hile bias is broadly admissible on issues of credibility, neither the Attorney General nor the FBI Director will testify in this case. [D]efendant should not be permitted to inject national political figures into this trial. Any slight probative value of this evidence is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, and wasting time. Defendant’s motion is denied,” the judge said.
Dugan also allegedly tried to bring judicial immunity, which already has been denied, into the case again.
“As the government notes, defendant’s motion in limine would in effect confer partial judicial immunity and put much of the government’s proof off limits. I agree that the correct approach is to permit the jury to consider all of defendant’s conduct on April 18, 2025, in deciding whether she concealed an alien under § 1071 or corruptly endeavored to obstruct a proceeding under § 1505.”
The judge did grant Dugan requests for witness sequestration and other technical points.
On one key ruling, the defense claimed, unsuccessfully, that Dugan “had a legal right to engage in those acts.”
She’s accused of impeding Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during an immigration bust by helping a Mexican national named Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who is facing misdemeanor battery charges, leave through a jury door after a hearing in his criminal case, the report said.
She had earlier directed federal agents away from the hallway outside her courtroom.
BREAKING: A Milwaukee judge is being dragged toward a six-year prison sentence for allegedly helping one undocumented man evade ICE.
Judge Hannah Dugan just arrived at the federal courthouse for her final pretrial hearing, ahead of a December trial where she faces six years in… pic.twitter.com/MQtufgvXbx
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) November 26, 2025