Maddow Blog | As FBI arrests judge in Wisconsin, AG Pam Bondi directs new threats at the judiciary

The Republican violative against the courts and judges successful caller months has been arsenic subtle arsenic a sledgehammer. The Washington Post precocious summarized, for example, that the White House has pushed guardant with “delegitimizing” the autarkic judiciary, and there’s overwhelming grounds to bolster the point.

Donald Trump, for example, wrote past month, “Radical Left Judges could precise good pb to the demolition of our Country! These radical are Lunatics, who bash not care, adjacent a small bit, astir the repercussions from their precise unsafe and incorrect Decisions and Rulings. ... The information is unparalleled!”

Around the aforesaid time, the president — who precocious wrote that American courts are “broken,” “rigged” and blameworthy of “corruption” — besides utilized his level to amplify an point from a right-wing blog that work successful part, “When judges transcend their law authorization by obstructing oregon overturning enforcement actions without morganatic law grounds, they not lone overstep their relation but whitethorn besides perpetrate acts tantamount to treason and sedition.”

He has plentifulness of company. White House property caput Karoline Leavitt has targeted a circumstantial national judge. White House advisor Stephen Miller condemned “Marxist” judges, who “must beryllium stopped.” With the president’s blessing, Elon Musk and legislature Republicans person targeted a assortment of judges with impeachment measures.

But the Trump medication hadn’t gone truthful acold arsenic to really arrest a sitting justice — until now. NBC News reported:

The FBI arrested a region justice successful Milwaukee connected Friday, alleging that she obstructed the detention of an undocumented migrant who was wanted by national authorities connected an administrative migration warrant by escorting the antheral and his defence lawyer though a non-public assemblage door. The apprehension of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan marks a important escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown connected immigration, successful enactment with its rhetoric astir going aft section and authorities authorities connected immigration-related matters.

Dugan faces charges of obstructing oregon impeding a proceeding earlier a section oregon bureau of the United States, arsenic good arsenic a complaint of concealing an idiosyncratic to forestall his find and arrest. After the section jurist was arrested by the FBI, she made an quality earlier a national magistrate justice and was released connected bond.

Shortly aft Dugan was taken into custody, Kash Patel, Trump’s highly arguable FBI director, published a tweet that efficaciously spiked the football. “We judge Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected national agents distant from the taxable to beryllium arrested successful her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the taxable — an amerciable alien — to evade arrest,” helium wrote successful a missive that was deleted a abbreviated clip later. “Thankfully our agents chased down the perp connected ft and he’s been successful custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created accrued information to the public.”

Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin didn’t rather spot it that way.

“In the United States, we person a strategy of checks and balances and separations of powerfulness for damn bully reasons,” the legislator said successful a statement. “The president’s medication arresting a sitting justice is simply a gravely superior and drastic move, and it threatens to breach those precise separations of power. Make nary mistake, we bash not person kings successful this country, and we are a ideology governed by laws that everyone indispensable abide by. By relentlessly attacking the judicial system, flouting tribunal orders, and arresting a sitting judge, this president is putting those basal Democratic values that Wisconsinites clasp beloved connected the line.

“While details of this nonstop lawsuit stay minimal, this enactment fits into the profoundly concerning signifier of this president’s lawless behaviour and undermining courts and Congress’s checks connected his power.”

I was besides struck by Attorney General Pam Bondi — who’s already gone excessively acold successful targeting judges by sanction — who went to Fox News successful the aftermath of Dugan’s arrest.

“[Judges] are deranged, is each I tin deliberation of,” Bondi said during her 18th quality connected Fox this year. “I deliberation immoderate of these judges deliberation that they are beyond and supra the law, and they are not. And we’re sending a precise beardown connection today: If you are harboring a fugitive, we don’t attraction who you are. ... We volition travel aft you and we volition prosecute you. We volition find you.”

To beryllium indifferent to the authoritarian menace from this medication is to neglect to wage adjacent capable attraction to unfolding events.

This nonfiction was primitively published connected MSNBC.com