In a shocking interview, a Democratic representative went on live TV and told a leftist host that members of the Trump Administration could be arrested for kidnapping and interference with a trial, fiercely criticizing President Trump and characterizing him as a chaotic force.
For context, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show on April 25, 2025, and told Maddow that members of the Trump Administration were potentially breaking the law via their involvement in the deportation of illegal immigrants. Rep. Raskin went on to fiercely criticize the Trump Administration for the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan of Wisconsin, who was jailed after she allegedly protected a migrant criminal from arrest.
In the interview, Rachel Maddow began by describing President Trump’s decision to have Judge Dugan arrested as “a reckless and desperate move.” She then added, “It seems to me like, yes, there are connections to previous flash points and tensions that Trump has raised in even his first term by trying to put federal immigration agents into state courts. But to me, this mostly just seems crazy.”
In response, Rep. Raskin characterized the Trump Administration’s recent actions as “an intense assault on judicial independence” and said that members of the Cabinet were “disobeying federal court orders systematically.” He continued, “They have incurred criminal contempt findings in the courtroom of Judge Boasberg, a conservative Republican judge, and they have been demanding the impeachment of judges who rule against the lawlessness of the Trump administration.”
Continuing, Rep. Raskin explained the context for Judge Boasberg condemning the Trump Administration, saying, “What Judge Boasberg is about to hold them in criminal contempt for, and has found that there is probable cause for criminal contempt, is that they deliberately ignored and defied his order not to take off in those airplanes headed for El Salvador and not turning the airplanes around.”
Moving on, Rep. Raskin apparently sided with Judge Boasberg, arguing that members of the Trump Administration could be jailed. He said, “So, on the logic of this arrest of Judge Dugan, all of the people in the Trump Administration who participated in defying that order by Judge Boasberg themselves could be arrested for interfering with a legal proceeding and perhaps other criminal charges like kidnapping, as you were suggesting before.”
Responding to Rep. Raskin, Maddow asked for clarification about what the representative thought were the proper next steps in response to the Trump Administration’s recent actions. Rep. Raskin told her, “The people need to manifest their outrage about these assaults on judicial independence, the first branch of government, the legislative branch, Congress, must do the same thing.”
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Concluding the interview, Rep. Raskin implied that President Trump was abusing his power and moving in the direction of authoritarianism, telling Maddow that the country was “rediscovering the two most beautiful words in the English language: due process,” adding that “that’s what separates us from being a free society with real rights, from becoming a dictatorship.”
Watch the interview with Rep. Raskin:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video