A bipartisan group of former state and federal judges sent a scathing letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi this week criticizing President Donald Trump and his administration for their “assault” on the judiciary.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for comment via email on Monday.
The Context
The Trump administration has faced pushback from the courts—including the Supreme Court—on issues including immigration and deportations, the firing of federal workers, Trump’s threats to cut off federal funds to colleges with which he has political disagreements, Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and more.
Tensions between the executive and judicial branches reached a boiling point late last month, when the FBI arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a migrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
What To Know
Monday’s letter zeroed in on Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest at her courthouse, calling it “yet another attempt to intimidate and threaten the judiciary after a series of rulings by judges appointed by presidents of both parties holding the Trump Administration accountable for its countless violations of the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
The letter was signed by more than 150 former Democratic- and Republican-appointed judges and also singled out Bondi for calling judges “deranged,” saying the Trump administration is “sending a very strong message” and that “we will come after you and we will prosecute you.”
It also called out White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for declining to rule out arresting Supreme Court justices.
The letter went on to say that the Justice Department could have issued a summons for Dugan to appear before a court, as opposed to FBI Director Kash Patel announcing the judge’s arrest on X, formerly Twitter, along with a photo showing her being led away in handcuffs.
“This cynical effort undermines the rule of law and destroys the trust the American people have in the nation’s judges to administer justice in the courtrooms and in the halls of justice across the land,” the letter said.
It concluded: “We unequivocally reject your and the Trump Administration’s assault on the judiciary, the Rule of Law and those who administer it, including Judge Dugan. This does not make us ‘deranged.’ It’s what makes us Americans.”
What People Are Saying
Former federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, one of the letter’s lead signatories, said in a statement: “I have spent my career upholding the Constitution. I never imagined I’d see a judge treated like this in America. The arrest and prosecution of judges is where rule by law ends and authoritarianism begins. The judiciary is the last obstacle to a president with designs on tyrannical rule.”
Former U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner said in a statement: “Seeing a judge handcuffed, photographed and perp walked highlights the authoritarian playbook of the Trump administration. It is something we should never tolerate in the United States.”
What’s Next
The Trump administration is amid several protracted legal fights over his sweeping agenda.