By David Thomas
(Reuters) – A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man in her court briefly evade immigration authorities has added prominent conservative lawyer and leading U.S. Supreme Court advocate Paul Clement to her defense team.
Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County circuit judge, was charged on Friday with obstructing a government proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent arrest.
Clement did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mastantuono Coffee & Thomas, a Wisconsin-based firm representing Dugan, confirmed Clement’s addition to the legal team on Tuesday.
Clement, a U.S. solicitor general during the Republican administration of George W. Bush who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court, has clashed with the Trump administration in other cases.
He is representing WilmerHale in its lawsuit challenging an executive order President Donald Trump signed last month targeting the U.S. law firm’s business with federal contractors and restricting its access to government officials and buildings.
Clement also opposed the administration’s bid to withdraw the federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams with the potential to refile charges. A judge earlier this month dismissed the case permanently after Clement, acting as a court-appointed adviser, said it would otherwise hang over Adams like a “sword of Damocles.”
Dugan’s arrest on Friday was part of an escalating dispute between the Trump administration and local officials over immigration enforcement.
Trump, a Republican, launched a sweeping immigration crackdown after taking office in January, and the Justice Department has directed federal prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against local officials who interfere with the effort. Such resistance was widespread during Trump’s first 2017-2021 term in office.
Federal prosecutors accused Dugan of hindering immigration agents who arrived to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz without a judicial warrant outside her courtroom on April 18. Dugan allegedly tried to help Flores-Ruiz evade arrest by allowing him to exit through a jury door, although agents arrested him outside the courthouse.
The government did not seek to detain Dugan after her arrest and she was released from custody on Friday by a federal magistrate judge in Milwaukee. She is scheduled to enter a plea on May 15.
Dugan is also represented by Steven Biskupic, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by David Thomas; Editing by David Bario and Bill Berkrot)
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