In typical CNN fashion, two of the network’s leftist co-hosts had a dramatic reaction to the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan, a Democrat who obstructed the arrest of an illegal immigrant and now faces charges that could reportedly land her in prison for 10 years.
For context, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 25, 2025, after evidence was presented that she willfully obstructed the arrest of an illegal immigrant the week before. Following Dugan’s arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel made it clear that the judge was believed to have used misdirection to keep federal agents from the immigrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, which led to multiple federal felony charges.
In a statement released by Director Patel on X, he explained that Flores-Ruiz was arrested despite Dugan’s interference, saying, “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.”
Following the announcement of Judge Dugan’s arrest, several CNN anchors weighed in, including Wolf Blitzer and the network’s senior crime and justice correspondent, Kaitlin Polantz. Regarding the arrest, Polantz said, “This is something that we have certainly not seen before, but appears to be part of this aggressive approach the Trump administration has toward immigration.”
Continuing, Polantz read Director Patel’s X post on the arrest verbatim, then said, “So, that’s the FBI Director, laying out this apparent story and the developments this morning, Wolf, of what is happening with this arrest.” She went on, “We have reached out to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, which is where the judge sits, Judge Hannah Dugan, and they have not responded yet.”
Moving on, Polantz told Blitzer that Dugan’s arrest “would be a startling development,” adding, “She was working on the bench as a judge handling an immigration case or a case of a person that ICE was also interested in.” In response, Blitzer responded by simply saying, “Very dramatic and significant indeed.”
CNN anchors have not been the only members of the left to express outrage on Judge Dugan’s behalf. Following Dugan’s arrest, another Democrat judge, Monica Isham of Wisconsin, threatened not to hold court proceedings in solidarity with Dugan, leading Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to reportedly describe her actions as “problematic.”
"*" indicates required fields
In an email sent to judges across the state of Wisconsin, Judge Isham said, “If there is no guidance for us and no support for us, I will refuse to hold court in Branch 2 in Sawyer County. I will not put myself or my staff who may feel compelled to help me or my community in harm’s way.” She then added, “I have no intention of allowing anyone to be taken out of my courtroom by ICE and sent to a concentration camp, especially without due process, as BOTH of the constitutions we swore to support require. Should I start raising bail money?”
Watch the CNN anchors react to Judge Dugan’s arrest:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video