'Last thing that is on our agenda': Vos softens tone on impeaching Judge Dugan

CBS 58

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Assembly Republicans are in no rush to impeach Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. In an interview with CBS 58 Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) again called for Dugan to resign from the bench.

However, in a departure from a release Vos issued with Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Walworth) the day after jurors convicted Dugan in her federal trial, he did not guarantee impeachment proceedings will happen.

"Well, we have to caucus on it, so I don't want to overstep my skis," Vos said Tuesday. "But I feel like, in my discussions with my colleagues, if she doesn't act, doing the right thing by resigning from her position or taking some kind of actions like that, we'll be forced to do it, and the last thing that is on our agenda."

Dugan was accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade ICE agents after he appeared in her courtroom last spring. Jurors issued a split verdict on Dec. 18.

The jury convicted Dugan of the felony charge of interfering with a federal agency. Jurors acquitted Dugan of the misdemeanor charge of assisting an individual avoid arrest.

Vos said impeachment was one of two courses of action Republicans could pursue in the wake of the Dugan verdict. He said Republicans will advance a bill that would prohibit officials from receiving pay if they've been convicted of a felony.

Dugan's legal team is asking Judge Lynn Adelman to review the jury's decision, arguing it's impossible to reasonably acquit her on one charge while convicting her on the other since the charges are so similar.

Beyond that, Dugan's attorneys have vowed to appeal any decision that finds the judge guilty of committing a crime.

"Waiting three, four, six months to get some kind of sentencing, and then years for an appeal, just so she can collect a paycheck when, clearly, she did something wrong? That's the job of the Legislature to step in," Vos said. "That's not my first job. If I wanted to be political, we would've done something right away last fall [when Dugan was charged.]"

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