FBI Director Removes Tweet on Wisconsin Judge's Arrest; Reason behind the Deletion Remains Vague
Fiery Tweets, Mysterious Deletions: Kash Patel, the FBI Director, Accuses Judge of Obstructing ICE
Woah, let's talk about Kash Patel, the director of the FBI who sure knows how to stir things up on Twitter! Last Friday, he tweeted about the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan in Wisconsin, accusing her of obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But here's the kicker - he deleted the tweet just two hours later!
Wait, it gets more interesting. He posted the same exact thing again, and we're still not sure why he erased the original tweet. Take a look:
"JUST NOW, the FBI nabs Judge Hannah Dugan outta Milwaukee, Wisconsin, cracking her on charges of obstruction - post-evidence suggesting Judge Dugan interfered with an immigration arrest op last week," Patel typed out at 10:11 a.m. ET.
"We suspect Judge Dugan deliberately guided feds away from the subject, Miss Hannigan's Courtroom, allowing the subject (an illegal alien) to escape arrest," Patel continued, channeling his inner Dick Van Dyke.
Patel went on, describing the scene as "a wild foot chase," and alleging that "the Judge's meddling created additional danger to the public." He ended the tweet by promising to dish more deets soon, and tagged the X crew at the FBI Milwaukee office.
Now, if you try getting to that initial tweet's URL, you'll find a page that claims, "Uh-oh, this page doesn't exist. How about something else?" So, why did Patel yank it? His new version of the tweet seemed identical, but hey, we're all left guessing. The U.S. Department of Justice didn't get back to us on questions about Patel's tweet until much later.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, ICE agents swarmed the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 to snag a Mexican citizen in Judge Hannah Dugan's courtroom. Seems like Dugan directed the ICE agents to the chief justice's office, and the target skedaddled out the side door. Experts had mixed opinions on Dugan's alleged actions, but none thought she should face charges.
The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Dugan was cuffed up around 8:30 a.m. local time (9:30 a.m. ET) on courthouse property. Dugan hit the witness stand in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries and has been charged with two felonies, obstruction and concealing an individual.
Dugan kept mum during the hearing, but her lawyer reportedly said, "Judge Dugan heartily regrets and protests her arrest. It was not for the safety of the public." A former federal prosecutor in Milwaukee, Franklyn Gimbel, who talked to the Journal-Sentinel, called her arrest "outrageous," and pointed out that the FBI could have just asked her to show up for questioning. But if we've learned anything from the Trump administration, it's that they love a bit of dramatic flair.
Dugan, 65, grabbed a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981 and earned her JD in 1987[2]. She scored a gig as a county court judge (Branch 31) in 2016 and worked at Legal Action of Wisconsin and Legal Aid before that.
President Donald Trump targeted a federal judge in a similar case back in 2019, but that case got dropped during the Biden administration in 2022. And Trump's buddy Elon Musk, the king of DOGE, often pushes for tougher judicial sanctions. Musk commented on the case Friday, tweeting, "More courtroom shenanigans."
Kash Patel was appointed as the FBI director in late February, winning a vote of 51-49 (every Dem senator and two Republicans voted no)[4]. Before joining the FBI, he served on Trump Media's board (which owns Donald Trump's Truth Social platform) and stands to make at least $2.6 million from consulting and media deals[3]. Patel also penned an outlandish children's book called "The Plot Against the King," featuring Donald Trump as a king.
It's no secret that Patel's a huge fan of the QAnon conspiracy theory[6], has dropped a list of alleged deep state officials for takedown, and swears he'll "get" the media. Yet, his supporters on social media have grumbled about Patel dragging his feet in dispensing justice on those perceived enemies. So, will we see a new era of "arrest judges" with Patel running the show? Stay tuned!
Sources:1. Journal-Sentinel - Federal Judge Hannah Dugan arrested by FBI2. Associated Press - Dugan's background3. ABC News - Kash Patel's income4. Vox - Kash Patel's Senate confirmation5. Tufts University - Terrorism, Extremism, and Criminality watchlist6. Snopes - Kash Patel and QAnon
- The intriguing affair surrounding Kash Patel, the FBI director, continued with a tweet and a deletion, raising questions about policy-and-legislation and politics.
- Gizmodo reports that Patel accused Judge Hannah Dugan of obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the original tweet was later removed, leaving many to ponder about his motives.
- The tech world couldn't help but comment on the incident, with Elon Musk tweeting, "More courtroom shenanigans," adding to the general-news wave around the matter.
- The future implications of this incident could set a precedent for technology's role in shaping policy-and-legislation and the relationship between politics and the tech industry.
