Sekulow

Logan Sekulow: Welcome to Sekulow. We’re live. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. Will Haines is joining me in studio. We’ve got Mike Pompeo joining us a little bit later, but we’re going to hear from you as well at 1-800-684-3110. That’s 1-800-684-3110. The breaking news this morning, you may remember, we flash back here a little bit, Will, to that judge who helped criminals escape from the courtroom. Let's give everyone a little bit of history here because we have some big news and an update. Sort of the good and bad of it as this judge has been sentenced.
Will Haines: This is former judge Hannah Dugan from Wisconsin. You’ll remember that she orchestrated almost this elaborate plot in Milwaukee when there was an individual that was before her court on domestic assault charges. When ICE showed up and DHS to serve an immigration warrant on this individual, she distracted the officers, went and told them to go talk to the chief judge, and then went back into her courtroom and said the proceedings are done for the day. You’re watching, if you’re watching live, some of this security camera footage where she escorted the subject of the DHS warrant out the back of the court through her chambers. The prosecutor was asking why are we ending now, but she wouldn't give any information and helped this individual escape. Fortunately, the individual was detained after a foot chase outside of the court in Milwaukee.
Logan Sekulow: Let's reset again. Remember, this wasn't someone that was there on some sort of immigration charge or was there for that. They were there for a domestic assault violation. We’re not talking about allegedly a good guy at this point who just happened to be someone who was here illegally. We’re talking about someone that was in the courtroom specifically for an allegation of domestic assault abuse. But the judge was so blinded by what was happening that she decided to take things into her own hands and to get this person out the back door. They were still caught, and now she is facing the consequences, some of which are justified and some of which are a little light. I want to hear from people on this because I'm about to tell you what happened. Remember, she was suspended by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and she resigned from her judgeship after that instead of being impeached. Then she was convicted in federal court of this obstruction charge that was brought by the Department of Justice. The sentencing was just handed down. The sentencing guidelines from the federal government and the DOJ based off of this type of violation called for incarceration anywhere from 15 to 20 months. So, over a year, up to almost two years in prison. The federal judge in the sentencing gave this state judge a slap on the wrist. A $5,000 fine, no jail time. We’ll get into the rationale from this judge of why. Does this shock you that a federal judge would do this? Does this hurt your faith in the justice system? Call us. 1-800-684-3110.
Will Haines: Of course, there is one positive that came out of this, which is this person can no longer serve. With this conviction, it’s a felony conviction, and she will not be able to be a judge in Wisconsin. She is still appealing, but if this is upheld, she will no longer be able to be a judge. So, that is the sunshine on this.
Logan Sekulow: She lost her career. Phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110. I want to hear from you. Of course, we’re now headed towards the end of our Independence Week. I want you to be a part of it. Anyone that gives over $250 during this America 250 celebration right now at ACLJ.org/USA, not only will it be matched by an incredible ACLJ supporter and donor, which all donations are this month, but you will get an ACLJ cooler bag and ACLJ challenge coin as our gift to you for giving 250 on the 250. So, do it today at ACLJ.org/USA. We'll be right back with more on Sekulow. Leave that QR code up until we get to break. We'll be right back in just a few moments.
Guest (Male): This week our great nation celebrated its 250th birthday. This is our Independence Week. Freedom is precious, but it is not free. It can never be taken for granted. The ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the American dream, can be lost in a generation if we don't fight to secure it. Our liberty was declared 250 years ago, and for more than 35 of those, the ACLJ has been here, fighting against those that seek to challenge, undermine, and even strip us of our God-given rights. Freedom must be protected always. That’s why we need you right now. When you go to ACLJ.org/USA, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled to help us preserve our American freedom. But that’s not all. The first 100 members to give $250 or more will receive an America 250 cooler bag and a limited edition ACLJ America 250 challenge coin. It’s our thank you to you to help celebrate freedom as we fight to protect it for generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/USA.
Guest (Male): We’ve witnessed monumental legal victories from defending the 14th Amendment and protecting our sacred American right to vote, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and standing up for the religious liberty of our kids and seniors. But even with the many historic wins we’ve achieved, the battle is far from over. The attacks on our constitutionally protected rights persist. Countless unborn babies remain in jeopardy, and across the globe, innocent Christians are being targeted and killed across this country and around the world. This fight isn't just the ACLJ's. It's all of ours. It belongs to every American who wants to preserve the values and beliefs on which this nation was founded. None of the victories we’ve won would have been possible without the unwavering support of ACLJ members and ACLJ champions. It’s been an honor to fight for you all these years. Join us in fighting for freedom. Have your donation doubled at ACLJ.org/USA.
Logan Sekulow: Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. To reset a little bit of what we're talking about for those of you who are just joining us online, that is that viral judge you may remember from earlier in the year, I guess it was late last year during the height of the ICE raids that were happening. She took someone who was there specifically for a trial about a domestic assault or domestic abuse violation. That is why they were there. But she got word that ICE or some sort of immigration officials were on the way there because this person needed to be served some summons or issue due to their immigration status. She decides to take things into her own hands and run this person out the back door. Legitimately, this is what happened. She says we're done for the day and gets him out so he can escape. He doesn't escape. He gets caught and gets deported. And she, of course, has finally been sentenced. Her sentencing depends on what you believe in. We were talking about this a little off air. Her sentence right now is that she essentially lost her whole career. That is a pretty good consequence. She should not be able to serve anymore as a judge. At the same time, financially and prison time-wise, you’re talking about next to nothing.
Will Haines: She was found guilty of a felony count by a jury, a felony count of impeding or obstructing a proceeding. If you heard in the break that we had a video talking about what happened to this person that she was trying to protect, that individual was deported from the country. They were here illegally. But the rationale from the federal judge, Judge Lynn Adelman, who was the one overseeing this case, looked at federal sentencing guidelines which called for 15 to 20 months and said from the bench that for several reasons prison is not necessary to satisfy the statutory purposes for sentencing. She said basically when she was weighing what this individual had done with service to the community as a judge, that making that bad decision, being convicted of it, and losing her career effectively as well as paying a fine, did not necessarily require prison time. Maybe that was enough. To some degree, I understand that. I understand that there are so many people that want an example made that say maximum sentence, put them in prison forever, and throw away the key. A lot of times, that isn't the right case, and that’s where the discretion from the judge comes in. There’s also a good chance that even if that sentence, maybe the conviction may not be overturned on appeal, but that sentence could be something that is looked at on appeal as well. We know for a fact the judge is going to appeal this decision. As long as it stands, she’s no longer going to be able to be a judge because she’s convicted of this felony in the state of Wisconsin. But it is interesting to look at as well. It is not as though this was a member of the public that was doing this. It was a judge. So if you’re trying to send a message, the pool of potential is very small comparatively when you’re talking about local judges in Wisconsin. But there’s going to be a lot of people that disagree with this sentencing. The judge had that prerogative and made that call, but I do agree, losing your entire career, something you’ve worked for, is quite a drastic thing.
Logan Sekulow: I think that that is a pretty big sentence. Look, we can go after it and say that there was some slap on the wrist in terms of prison time money. But also, I think we've all been into a discussion of what prison time should look like. But you're talking about really obstructing a big part of the government at that point. We're not talking about something that's that small, but losing your whole career over maybe what was a bad, heated, politically driven moment is a pretty big moment. Let's go ahead and take some phone calls. There's a lot of you who are calling in right now. Let's go to Chris from Ohio. Go ahead.
Chris: My opinion, I think it's disgusting that they let her go free. I heard your comment that it's not a little thing that she might have lost her career, but she can still go to another state and become a lawyer or a judge in another state.
Will Haines: With your record, that’s a big if. It's not just that you can go and apply to be a judge and be granted a judgeship. I understand, but I did want to jump in there. It’s not as easy as saying I found another job in another state. But go ahead.
Chris: Obviously, it was politically motivated. I think she did this to undermine the Trump administration. If a normal person broke a law like this, they would definitely get slammed in court. It’s just showing you that there are two different sets of rules for who you are.
Logan Sekulow: She could theoretically become a hero if she plays it right, but I think that that ship has sailed a bit. I think we’re one of the only people I see talking about this.
Will Haines: And I think here’s another question to turn it on its head for people to think about. We have been concerned with how aggressively some politically motivated things were prosecuted by the Biden administration. How aggressively they went after people for politically motivated acts that they disagreed with. Do individuals think that we need this eye for an eye? There was a lot of complaining about how aggressive some of the prison sentences were and the way that people were treated for political law violations. I don't think that we want to have this snowball effect where everyone ends up in the country for the most minor violation with a 100-year prison sentence. I think that if you're not careful, then things can get that way in this kind of climate where everyone is wanting maximum penalties and punishments for every single individual.
Logan Sekulow: A lot of you are calling in right now, so we're going to take a lot of calls in this segment and the next segment because I think you've got a lot to say about this. I want to bridge this as well. Because as we look at, and we’ll talk about this more too, this was a local judge in Wisconsin. So, at the end of the day, the consequences for the decision of this one person nationally were very negligible other than the fact that we are talking about it and it did go nationwide. That’s why at the ACLJ, we have to look at things on a local level. It’s not just what the party that’s in power is doing and the laws or the executive orders or the way they’re combating that with lawfare in the courts. It’s sometimes that local level where constitutional violations break out or have a potential to break out, and so you have to keep an eye on it. And it’s hard. The news isn’t going to cover everything. But we at the ACLJ are doing those things. We do find the local violations, whether it be that girl in Washington state that we talked about where we’re filing a federal lawsuit for her. Or this. Yesterday afternoon, we filed a lawsuit in Maryland, and we’re representing the American Accountability Foundation. This ties in to me because this is another story about non-citizen voting, something that a lot of people watching this broadcast are very interested in. The American Accountability Foundation filed a FOIA-level equivalent in Maryland, a Maryland Sunshine Law, trying to find out because this locality allows non-citizens to vote in local elections. This is a trend happening around the country. It’s not in statewide, it’s not in federal elections, but in the city or municipality elections, they’re letting non-citizens vote. They have to have a two-set of voter rolls to accomplish this. American Accountability Foundation filed this freedom of information style request and they were not only not given a response, but there were hyperlinks on their websites about this that disappeared after the request was in. We are now representing them to get information about how you are doing this. How are you making sure that there isn’t going to be voter roll creep?
Will Haines: Show us the proof. Show us the evidence that you’re doing this. If you’re going to have a city or a district or a state where you can vote in a local election and you are not a United States citizen, maybe you are actively serving in your community there, or you’re here temporarily, all we ask for here at the ACLJ is show us the evidence. If you can prove it to us, that's what you're doing and that's what your local area wants, we can discuss that. You can discuss whether you think that's right or wrong, but show us the proof. That’s why our ACLJ attorneys are on it.
Logan Sekulow: And I encourage you right now, we are during one of these special matching weeks where all donations are matched right now. It's our Independence Week. Be a part of it right now. All donations are doubled at ACLJ.org. Of course, if you give over $250 during this 250 right now at ACLJ.org/USA, you get that free cooler bag and ACLJ 250 branded challenge coin. Do it today at ACLJ.org/USA.
Guest (Male): We’ve witnessed monumental legal victories from defending the 14th Amendment and protecting our sacred American right to vote, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and standing up for the religious liberty of our kids and seniors. But even with the many historic wins we’ve achieved, the battle is far from over. The attacks on our constitutionally protected rights persist. Countless unborn babies remain in jeopardy, and across the globe, innocent Christians are being targeted and killed across this country and around the world. This fight isn't just the ACLJ's. It's all of ours. It belongs to every American who wants to preserve the values and beliefs on which this nation was founded. None of the victories we’ve won would have been possible without the unwavering support of ACLJ members and ACLJ champions. It’s been an honor to fight for you all these years. Join us in fighting for freedom. Have your donation doubled at ACLJ.org/USA.
Guest (Male): This week our great nation celebrated its 250th birthday. This is our Independence Week. Freedom is precious, but it is not free. It can never be taken for granted. The ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the American dream, can be lost in a generation if we don't fight to secure it. Our liberty was declared 250 years ago, and for more than 35 of those, the ACLJ has been here, fighting against those that seek to challenge, undermine, and even strip us of our God-given rights. Freedom must be protected always. That’s why we need you right now. When you go to ACLJ.org/USA, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled to help us preserve our American freedom. But that’s not all. The first 100 members to give $250 or more will receive an America 250 cooler bag and a limited edition ACLJ America 250 challenge coin. It’s our thank you to you to help celebrate freedom as we fight to protect it for generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/USA.
Logan Sekulow: Welcome back to Sekulow. So many of you have called in. We were going to play a special video presentation. We're going to hold that until a little bit later in the show because this clearly struck a nerve with many of you. Who do you want to take first, Will?
Will Haines: Let's go ahead and start with Martin calling on line five from Wisconsin.
Logan Sekulow: Martin, go ahead.
Martin: Hi there. This is Martin calling regarding when do we begin to use military courts in case a judge like this is actually committing treasonous or seditious acts by releasing a potential enemy invader, someone who's in our country to spy and destroy our constitutional government?
Logan Sekulow: Let's discuss that, Martin. But for those who don't know, the person who was actually in court that day that was run out the back door, you’re talking about someone that was in there for domestic assault, domestic abuse. That is why they were being tried. You’re not talking about someone who was even in there for an immigration-related case. They were in there because they were being told that they were allegedly being tried for that.
Will Haines: Martin, I don't think that we are anywhere close to that, nor should we be looking for military tribunals in the United States for situations like this. That is not really the way that the Constitution set up our judicial system for a good reason. Also, our military is supposed to be civilian-led. That's why the Secretary of Defense many times, if they had been in the military too recently, actually requires a waiver from the Senate to be able to serve in that position because it is trying to separate. We don't want it to become a military dictatorship in our nation. Something like a military court being able to start to weigh in, especially at this, this was an obstruction of a proceeding charge. This wasn't a seditious charge. This wasn't something that even the federal government, the DOJ, was seeking to take it to that level. I don't think that would be a very good idea at all. I think that that would actually set off a very bad precedent for the United States. I don't think we're anywhere near that. I don't think those in leadership would be calling for that. And as we always like to point out, think of the unintended consequences. If that became the norm, just imagine what the left would use that for when they are in power. There’s a reason we stick to our constitutional principles, the way our court system was established in the Constitution. All of these things are very important, and we are going to cling to that as long and as hard as we can and fight for that here at the ACLJ because it is important to follow those principles.
Logan Sekulow: That's right, Martin. Thank you for calling in. I appreciate it. We are going to continue to try to take some more calls because many of you are calling about this topic because understandably, you are upset about it. You think that maybe this is not enough. Some of you agree with us that maybe they have seen what they needed to do by being essentially thrown out of the profession that they have been working at their entire life. Not easy to find another job within the same field unless you can sort of turn this into some sort of celebrity moment. But I think most people see someone who was being accused of domestic assault and don't immediately go, oh yeah, that’s a person we really want out on the streets. Let's go to Michael who's calling in Florida.
Michael: You should be very grateful that you live in America after these fantastic 250 years from Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Lincoln. And be very glad that Trump is busy taking out the biggest threat to the Middle East and the world. They would not hesitate as if a person can't see, that they would not hesitate if they had an atomic bomb to drop it on New York or Chicago. They wouldn't hesitate for a minute. That’s proved over all the years, and we should be very grateful that he's doing what he's doing.
Logan Sekulow: Michael, I appreciate your phone call. That’s once again, we think of how great that celebration was for the 250th anniversary. And we’re still celebrating here. This is Independence Week here at the ACLJ trying to continue this on. We shouldn't let a judicial decision or a sentencing decision that we disagree with take away from the fact that we are rooted in our constitutional republic. That we do have this foundation that is so strong and we’re going to keep fighting for it. And we’re going to keep celebrating the 250th of America still this week. I know it feels like the celebration kind of concluded with the 4th of July and then definitely concluded when we were eliminated from the World Cup, but here we are right now. We're still celebrating this week. I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ. We do have this special cooler bag and ACLJ challenge coin available to you if you give over $250. And all donations right now are doubled because we have great ACLJ supporters and champions. Champions are people that give every month who are ready to unlock their donation based on yours. So do it today at ACLJ.org. It’s been a really great week celebrating America. Let's take one before we head to break. Let's go to Marshall in Florida.
Marshall: I'll try to keep it as fast as I can, but about your comment what you were talking about. I know that a lot of people I guess are upset. I've never called in, but the whole sentencing thing, my whole belief on this, and I think a lot of people's belief is, the rule of law only works if Americans believe that it applies equally to everybody. Justice doesn't require identical outcomes in every case, but it does require equal standards. You can't have people looking at it and feeling that there are different tiers of justice, which we know, we absolutely know that there are two tiers of justice between the liberal side, Democrats on the Biden administration, the Obama administration, from the conservative administration. Prosecutors and judges should have discretion, of course. First-time offenders, decorated veterans, people like that, you want to take service and things of course into account. A person who accepts responsibility is a big deal, I think. But what cannot be accepted is the two-tier justice system where political affiliation with wealth, government position, or ideology makes a person above everybody else, the normal person. You could take George Flynn for this matter. They lawfared him to death, threatened his son.
Logan Sekulow: Marshall, I think a lot of people go, yeah, if I was the person in that courtroom and I grabbed the person who was being charged and ran them out the back door, what would happen to me? This is a bit of the double standard that’s happening right now due to people's political mindsets. That if everything the Trump administration does is evil, then everything that you do is justified if it thwarts them. That can't be an America we live in, but unfortunately, it is. But paying some price, some consequence, good. Maybe not enough for a lot of our viewers, understandably so. We'll continue on that conversation at 1-800-684-3110. We're also going to give you an update a little bit later of what's going on with President Trump, with Turkey, with Iran. We're going to discuss that with Mike Pompeo. Join us live, ACLJ.org, or archived whenever on all your favorite podcast apps. We'll be right back.
Guest (Male): This week our great nation celebrated her 250th birthday. This is our Independence Week. Freedom is precious. Freedom must be protected always. That’s why we need you. Right now when you go to ACLJ.org/USA, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled to help us preserve our American freedom. To help us celebrate freedom as we fight to protect it for generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/USA today.