Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Michael Popak
The story of the profile and courage of Judge Hannah Dugan. It's taken a new plot twist, one that I didn't even see coming. I knew they were going to file a motion to dismiss the indictment. The indictment already happened today of Hannah Dugan in Wisconsin, but now they've already filed their motion to dismiss with the court saying, we've seen the indictment and everything in it is barred in terms of prosecution or conviction because Judge Hannah Dugan as a judge enjoys judicial immunity. And guess what case they cited for the concept that if there is an immunity issue, it has to be resolved right now before any part of the case continues. Right. Trump versus the United States. Donald Trump's own precedent being used against him. How delightful. Let's talk about Judge Hannah Dugan. I'll update you on the new filing. I'll tell you what happens next and what happened earlier today with the indictment and how Trump's own case is being used against him. The only way I know how, without blowing smoke or sunshine on the Midas Touch Network. Let's pick it up. And for legal af, United States of America versus Hannah C. Dugan. It almost makes my heart hurt to read that. How do we get here? Judge Dugan Back on 18 April, Criminal Court Judge in Milwaukee Circuit Court. She is the ruler of her courtroom. She is the administrator of justice. She administers justice in the courtroom and in the courthouse in Milwaukee, she was elected to do so. And as part of her docket for the day, she had about eight or 10 cases. One of them, Mr. Flores Ruiz, who was there on a battery charge, she's a criminal court judge. Apparently he's also some sort of undocumented problem, has some sort of undocumented problem with immigration. They figured out because he's in the database that he was going to be there. So federal officers armed with nothing more than an administrative arrest warrant, not even from a judge, showed up knocking literally on Hannah Dugan's courthouse and courtrooms door. They wanted to pick him up after she was done with her hearing. She didn't like that because she's trying to administer the rule of law. She's trying to protect Milwaukee from being the scene of these ridiculous federal raids and undermine the rule of law and criminal justice in her courtroom. And so she told the six or eight federal officers present, you're not going to do this here. And we don't know what the rules are yet in this courthouse. Go talk to my chief judge. And in the interim, she apparently, if the criminal complaint now indictment are to be Believed she sent the two of them, the lawyer and Flores Ruiz, out a side door, a hallway door, where they were promptly picked up outside the courtroom. And that's the end of it. That's where it should have happened. They knew he was going to be there. They knew he was with his lawyer. They knew he was coming through metal detectors just set up outside. And that's all that Judge Dugan wanted, that she demanded. She said, let me see your arrest warrant. She said, it's an administrative arrest warrant. Well, it's not even from a judge. Nobody trusts the Trump administration when it comes to due process rights, so you can, you can understand her skepticism. They then that happened on the 18th. On the 25th, they issued the government, Pam Bondi and Cash Patel the FBI violating all Department of Justice manual and protocols. They arrested Hannah Dugan in the courtroom, perp walked her, took a photo, including in handcuffs, and then posted it on the FBI website and other places. And then had Cash Patel and Pam Bondi, Pam Bondi do a pitch and catch to abuse, undermine and defame this criminal defendant named Judge Hannah Dugan, who has the right to be presumed innocent. Because this was all set up. This was all set up so they could pick one judge like they did last time in 2017. Pick one judge, beat the crap out of them and try to scare all the other judges into obeying. They picked, they picked a fight with the wrong judge. And Hannah Dugan, she, they had a hearing off the criminal complaint. She was released to her own recognizance. There was no reason she needed to be arrested. They could have just as easily she would have self surrendered and then they move forward. What I said at the time was criminal complaint is only a beginning. Preliminary charging document. In order to really charge somebody with crimes, you got to do, got to go through a grand jury indictment. So the grand jury met apparently yesterday and from 9 to 5 they met. They had a bunch of witnesses that were brought in. The indictment process through the grand jury excludes the defendants from that process. They don't testify. They don't cross examine with their own lawyers. They don't get to hear the witnesses firsthand. And there were a series of witnesses. There was a judge that was next to a Judge Dugan who testified her, one of her courtroom personnel, the lawyer for Flores Ruiz and a bunch of other people. I mean, look, you can indict a ham sandwich depending upon how you skew the facts. So their presentation, they had 20 or so grand jurors and they in a majority, they must have voted to indict Dugan, but her lawyers were ready. So that was I thought my reporting was going to be as it was. And I have one up now on the Midas Dutch network and illegal AF Dugan indicted and talked about the horror of that. But now I can talk about. As I predicted, defendants motion to dismiss has been filed. And here let me read to you from it. As a lot of people know, I'm fortunate my wife and I were able to move my mom closer to us so that we could help care for her. But when I went to her new home, she announced suddenly that her TV broke. I looked at it and it turns out she accidentally hit the input button. Happens all the time. One click and boom. TV magic. I got it back on. But it got me thinking. How many of us are constantly playing tech support for our parents? This podcast is sponsored by Jubilee TV. Did you know over 37 million US adults provide unpaid care for an elderly loved one? I believe it because I'm one of them. Being a caregiver for seniors is tough. That's why I signed my mom up for Jubilee tv. It connects her TV to my phone so I can fix tech issues. That's helpful. Change the channel. Amazing. Even help her video call the grandkids without her having to learn anything new. And the best part, no new tech for her. She keeps her old remote familiar, simple, stress free. Once I learned about Jubilee tv, I I had to sign up. So perfect for people with aging parents. It's a relief. I can help my mom with her favorite shows and reminders anytime. Even classical opera, which is non negotiable in our house. Head to getjubileetv.com and use code legalaf for 25% off your order. Once again, that's getjubileetv.Com, code legal af for $25 off. So they know I sent you because it's not that long. And here's the salient parts. Honorable Hannah C. Dugan moves for an order dismissing the indictment. This is no ordinary criminal case, and Dugan is no ordinary criminal defendant. She is a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge. She was arrested and indicted for actions taken immediate in her immediate vicinity of her courtroom involving a person appearing before her as a party. The government's prosecution of Judge Dugan is virtually unprecedented and entirely unconstitutional. It violates the 10th amendment. We're going to talk about the 10th amendment and fundamental principles of federalism. And the problem also is that she's entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts and how she manages her courtroom and manages her courthouse are all official acts. And you cannot prosecute her for doing her job. And her job that day was to make sure the rule of law was protected. People weren't so intimidated by the presence of federal officers in a state courthouse that it would undermine justice, as that term is used in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That was her goal. Not to obstruct, not to secrete, not to interfere. She had a job to do. And that job is protected by immunity, an immunity that Donald Trump should know. And they cite on page one of the motion it says judge, Judge Dugan is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts. Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or a court. It is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset. See Trump vs United States 2024. That's the Trump immunity decision written by Chief Justice Roberts. On the let's talk about the 10th Amendment for a minute. A little known or a little analyzed amendment. The 10th amendment says that all power that the federal government has not reserved for themselves is reserved in the states. So the states have the overflow. Anything the federal government wants to be involved with, it ousts the state. But if they're not involved, then the state has the power over the federal government. It's this reservation clause that reserves to the state all of this power. I mean 99.6% of criminal cases are in state court, not federal court. That's a pretty high percentage. And she's handling part of that 99.6%. So they're saying to go after a state court criminal Judge violates the 10th Amendment because you've overstepped the boundaries of what is federal and everything else is reserved for the states. But then let's get to immunity. The essence of immunity, they say on page three, is that its possessors entitlement is that they don't have to. They don't have to answer for conduct in court. They say on page three, paragraph three. Even if, contrary to what the trial evidence would show, Judge Dugan took the actions the complaint alleges these plainly were judicial acts for which he has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. Judges are empowered to maintain control over their courtrooms specifically and the courthouse generally. Her subjective motivations are irrelevant. Judges are entitled to absolute immunity for their judicial acts without regard to the motive with which those acts are allegedly performed. Since at least the early 17th century, the motion continues and carried on through the common law, the judges of record have been entitled to absolute immunity for official acts, with a few exceptions not applicable here. So she's immune from both conviction and immunity. Then they also go into separation of powers and the 10th Amendment argument. So they're asking and they're demanding. They're saying, we'll give you further briefing if you want it in an evidentiary hearing. I think it will be before the magistrate judge in the case. Now the one interesting thing here I'm gonna follow up on as I see this was filed by all of the local Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin and other places in Wisconsin law firms. What I don't see is the signature for the former Solicitor General of the United States who I had heard and I had reported on had joined this particular defense team. And the fact that Paul Clements signature is not on here is slightly concerning to me. I'm going to get to the bottom of it and and I will do a further hot take on it. But the headline here for now is they're not letting any grass grow under their feet. Hannah Dugan's defense team, including federal former federal prosecutors, have filed a motion to dismiss. I'm sure they'll have further brief briefing around it. They're trying to get rid of the indictment and I think it's smart. It's very similar to when Eric Adams was indicted in New York as the mayor. Right away Quinn Emanuel, the law firm representing him, filed, I think within hours the the motion to dismiss that they had been working on. This I think is sort of a preliminary motion to dismiss, if you will, sort of a placeholder. I think there'll be more briefing and maybe that's where Paul Clement gets more involved. We'll follow it here on Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8pm Eastern Time, the Legal AF Podcast, Legal AF the YouTube on Legal AF MTN and Legal AF the Substack where I post things like the actual motion to dismiss will be posted there. Today. I on Legal AF substack, come on over, help us continue to grow all these pro democracy platforms. So until my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal af. Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called wait for it Morning af. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. We got some new reporting, we got interviews, we got ad free versions of the podcast and hot takes where legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.