Former New Jersey Governor and federal prosecutor Chris Christie, who ran against Donald Trump twice for the GOP presidential nomination (2016, 2024), appeared on ABC This Week to discuss the arrest of Hannah Dugan, the Wisconsin judge who was arrested after she allegedly tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom.
Leading the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi charged Dugan with two federal counts for obstruction and concealment.
When asked, as a former federal prosecutor, if he would have brought charges against Dugan, Christie replied, “This is one of those situations where everybody, I think, is acting badly. I don’t know what this judge was thinking, in terms of trying to help a criminal defendant to try to avoid an arrest warrant from federal authorities. It’s not a traditional judicial action in my experience. It’s not something a judge would normally do.”
Important discussion on the appropriate roles of law enforcement and judges in light of the arrest of a Wisconsin judge this week. https://t.co/n71XBCNZBZ
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) April 27, 2025
Christie added, “Now, on the other side, when you really read through this…the indictment that was filed is completely consistent with the affidavit that was filed because this guy, you know, did wind up in a public courtroom near public elevators after he left the courtroom and was seen by one of the agents who was there to assist in the apprehension.
“So whether or not they’re characterizing these facts as completely accurate is something we’re going to have to see when we get to a trial on this case.”
Christie added: “I think the judge overstepped her bounds here. Now, whether the appropriate remedy here is an arrest and a federal indictment, clearly what the Justice Department is trying to do is send a very, very aggressive message against everyone in this conduct.”
Answering the question, Christie said, “And I don’t know if that’s something that I would have found necessary to do, especially when you apprehended the person within moments after they left the courtroom.”
Christie said while there’s nothing “improper” about ICE agents appearing in a courtroom, “it is a very aggressive way of doing things.” The agents had a warrant and the person was charged with a crime.
“The problem here,” he said, “is that everybody is ratcheting up the heat on this, they accomplished what they wanted to accomplish, they arrested the man they wanted to arrest.
“Now, going after this judge is raising a whole new level of questions…The Trump immunity decision for this administration may giveth and taketh away here because giving that kind of broad immunity to the president, you could be sure that the judge’s lawyer is going to be arguing that a judge is entitled to similar immunity.”
Christie said the judge didn’t have the authority to do what she did — “it was a federal matter and she’s a state court judge” — but he also conveyed that he doesn’t believe she should go to jail for it — “whether she goes to jail or not…I don’t think she should.”
Note: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that it’s safer for ICE agents to apprehend a person in a courtroom than outside of a courtroom.