Wisconsin Republicans demand Judge Dugan resign or face impeachment after felony conviction

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By TODD RICHMOND and SCOTT BAUER

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans threatened Friday to impeach embattled judge Hannah Dugan if she doesn’t resign immediately after she was convicted of obstruction for helping an immigrant evade federal officers, saying her time serving the people of the state is over.

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Federal prosecutors in April accused the judge of distracting federal officers trying to arrest a Mexican immigrant and leading him out of her courtroom through a private door. A jury convicted her of felony obstruction late Thursday after a four-day trial.

Dugan faces up to five years in prison when she’s sentenced. No sentencing date has been set.

The Wisconsin Constitution bars convicted felons from holding public office. The state Judicial Commission, which disciplines state judges, and Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley have not responded to questions Friday about when Dugan’s office will officially become vacant.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Majority Leader Tyler August, both Republicans, on Friday morning threatened to impeach Dugan if she doesn’t immediately resign. They cited a legal opinion issued by then-Attorney General Bronson La Follette in 1976 that a state senator lost his seat the moment he was convicted of a felony.

“Wisconsinites deserve to know their judiciary is impartial and that justice is blind,” Vos and August said. “Judge Hannah Dugan is neither, and her privilege of serving the people of Wisconsin has come to an end.”

Dugan’s defense team has not responded to a message seeking comment.

The case against Dugan played out against a background of political turmoil over President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats insisted the administration was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation. Trump’s administration branded Dugan an activist judge and posted photos of her being led away in handcuffs.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, posted Friday that “NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”

“No one can obstruct law enforcement as they carry out their basic duties,” she said in a social media post. “This Department of Justice will not waver as our agents and law enforcement partners continue to make America Safe Again.”

Dugan never took the stand. Steve Biskupic, her lead attorney, later said he was disappointed with the ruling and didn’t understand how the jury could have reached a split verdict since the elements of both charges were so similar. Her team is expected to appeal the verdict.

A coalition of 13 advocacy groups, including Common Cause Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters Wisconsin, said “higher courts must carefully review the serious constitutional questions this case raises about due process, judicial authority, and federal overreach.”

The Democracy Defenders Fund, a group that says it works to defend “the foundations of our democracy,” sent a fundraising email shortly after the verdicts were handed down Thursday night to help cover Dugan’s legal expenses.

“This case is far from over,” the group’s executive chair, Norm Eisen, said in the email. “Higher courts will have the opportunity to determine whether this prosecution crossed the lines that protect the judiciary from executive overreach.”

On April 18, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.

Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to Ashley’s office. After they had left led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in November he had been deported.

Stocks rise on Wall Street and pull closer to weekly gains as AI stocks climb

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By DAMIAN J. TROISE

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in morning trading on Wall Street Friday and further trimmed losses from earlier in the week for several major indexes.

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The S&P 500 jumped 0.7%, adding to gains made on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 259 points, or 0.5%, as of 11:06 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq jumped 0.9% and is now slightly higher for the week.

Technology stocks with an focus on artificial intelligence once again led the market. Nvidia jumped 2.6% and Broadcom rose 1.4%.

Oracle rose 6.7% on news that it, along with two other investors, had signed agreements to form a new TikTok U.S. joint venture. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each get a 15% share in the popular social video platform, ensuring that it can continue operating in the U.S.

Company earnings and how companies are performing amid tariffs and inflation were a key focus for Wall Street.

Nike slumped 8.7%, as the impact from tariffs overshadowed an otherwise strong quarterly profit report. Frozen potato maker Lamb Weston fell 23.8%, despite also beating Wall Street’s profit and revenue forecasts.

Winnebago Industries jumped 12.3% after turning in profits and revenue for its latest quarter that easily beat analysts’ estimates.

Homebuilders dropped following a report showing that home sales slowed from a year earlier for the first time since May. Lennar lost 2.3% and KB Home fell 8.3%.

A survey from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment in December improved slightly from November, but is deeply diminished from a year ago.

“Despite some signs of improvement to close out the year, sentiment remains nearly 30% below December 2024, as pocketbook issues continue to dominate consumer views of the economy,” wrote Surveys of Consumers Director, Joanne Hsu.

Consumer confidence has been weakening throughout the year as persistent inflation squeezes consumers. The job market is also slowing while retail sales weaken. Business and consumers are also worrying about the continued impact of a wide-ranging U.S.-led trade war that has targeted key partners including China and Canada.

The latest inflation update on Thursday revealed a surprise cooling of prices in November. The Labor Department reported that its consumer price index rose 2.7%. But economists quickly warned that those numbers were suspect because they’d been delayed and likely distorted by the 43-day federal shutdown.

Inflation is still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate at its most recent meeting. It has been concerned about the slowing job market hurting the economy. But cutting interest rates could add more fuel to inflation, which could also stunt economic growth.

The Fed has maintained a cautious stance about interest rate policy heading into 2026 and Wall Street is mostly betting that it will hold steady on rates at its next meeting in January.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.13% from 4.11% late Thursday.

Japanese stocks rose after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate to its highest level in 30 years. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1%, leading the rise across Asia’s key markets. Markets in Europe also gained ground.

AP Business Writer Matt Ott contributed.

Ford recalls more than 270,000 electric and hybrid vehicles due to roll-away risk

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Ford is recalling more than 270,000 electric and hybrid vehicles in the U.S. because of a parking function problem that could lead to them rolling away.

The Detroit automaker said that the recall includes certain 2022-2026 F-150 Lightning BEV, 2024-2026 Mustang Mach-E, and 2025-2026 Maverick vehicles. At issue is the integrated park module, which may fail to lock into the park position when the driver shifts into park.

Ford said that it will implement a park module software update for free.

Vehicle owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332 for additional information.

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4 months in, activists say Trump’s operation in Washington targets immigrants

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By GARY FIELDS and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump launched a law enforcement operation in Washington, D.C., four months ago, he billed it as a mission to fight rampant crime.

But activists and local leaders say that description belies what has emerged as a simultaneous crackdown on immigrants, who have grown increasingly concerned for their status and safety in the city.

One-third of all arrests made during the operation were immigration-related, according to official figures reviewed by The Associated Press. Activists and immigrants say arrests are frequent and frightening. A lawsuit alleges they are often unlawful. And with no end in sight to the surge in law enforcement in the city, there is no indication the immigration arrests will end.

The threat to immigrants in the city has now become routine, the activists and local leaders say.

Immigration enforcement sweeps are “not making the nightly news anymore because it’s business as usual,” said Washington council member Brianne K. Nadeau.

FILE – People hold signs warning drivers of a checkpoint operated by the Metropolitan Police Department and federal agencies, including officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), on Georgia Avenue in the northern part of Washington, Aug. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

DC operation is a crime fighting mission, Trump says

Trump launched the federal intervention in D.C. in mid-August with an emergency order that took over the city’s police force and sent federal agents in along with hundreds of National Guard troops.

Trump’s Republican administration says the D.C. mission is intended to fight crime and has touted it as a resounding success, although crime was already on the decline before the operation began.

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Official figures show that about 33% of the more than 7,500 arrests made since the operation began through Monday were immigration-related. In September, an Associated Press analysis found that 40% of the 2,400 arrests were immigration-related.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement figures released by the University of California Berkeley Deportation Data Project, of the roughly 1,130 immigration arrests made in the heavily Democratic city from the start of the operation to Oct. 15, the dates for which data was provided, 947 had no criminal record or pending criminal charge.

“The focus of President Trump’s highly successful D.C. operation has been to address crime committed by anyone, regardless of immigration status,” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, who added that many of those arrested were committing crimes, had outstanding warrants or had prior convictions.

The statistics showed arrests in the period were wide-ranging, including homicide and drug charges.

‘My neighbors are being harassed, assaulted and kidnapped’

Although the emergency order affecting the police lapsed in September, arrest sweeps, checkpoints, masked law enforcement and unmarked vehicles are still visible.

Dozens of witnesses in a more than 10-hour municipal hearing earlier this month spelled out the ongoing concerns. Residents said they had seen detentions, often by masked and unidentifiable law enforcement agents. Common targets were school drop-off zones, food distribution sites, landscapers and apartments with large populations of Hispanic residents. There were numerous complaints that the local Metropolitan Police Department has continued working closely with ICE in its immigration efforts despite a pledge by Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, that they would not.

Nadia Salazar Sandi, a Bolivian immigrant, told the meeting that multiple family members have been detained over recent months, leaving what she said were empty seats at Thanksgiving dinner.

“This is terrifying,” she said of the immigration operations. “I’m a citizen now, and I walk with my passport.”

Witnesses said a number of the detentions began with routine traffic stops by the Metropolitan Police. One instance began as an expired-tag stop that drew more than a dozen federal officers and agents.

“Every single day my neighbors are being harassed, assaulted and kidnapped,” said Leah Tribbett, a city resident. “I could talk for probably the entirety of this hearing and still not recount every single instance of brutality that I’ve seen.”

An earlier information gathering held by Nadeau revealed an increasing desire by some immigrants to fade out of the public eye. One witness was a medical professional who recounted how one family was considering opting out of speech and occupational therapy for their autistic children out of fear authorities would be waiting for them at the clinic.

Tactics used during arrests have been challenged in court

A federal judge earlier this month blocked the Trump administration from making widespread immigration arrests in the nation’s capital without warrants or probable cause that the people arrested have violated immigration law or there is knowledge they are flight risks.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs’ attorneys argued federal officers were frequently patrolling and setting up checkpoints in neighborhoods with large numbers of Hispanic immigrants and then stopping and arresting people indiscriminately.

José Escobar Molina, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in court documents that he had temporary legal protections and lived in the city for 25 years. He said he was walking from his apartment building to his work truck when two cars pulled up next to him. Unidentified federal agents grabbed and handcuffed him without asking for his name, identification or any information about his immigration status, he said. They also did not ask where he lived, how long he has been in the area or whether he had ties to the community, he said.

Attorneys for the Trump administration argued that agents had probable cause to detain Molina and the other plaintiffs in the manner that was used.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said arrests in Washington and beyond are carried out lawfully and all detainees receive due process.

Madeleine Gates, associate counsel with the nonprofit Washington Lawyers’ Committee and one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said they have submitted additional statements by community members with dozens of instances in which people were arrested outside proper procedures.

“What we’ve actually seen in practice are officers arresting people without seeming to know who they are,” Gates said.

Trump has not said when he might draw down the federal law enforcement surge. Following the shooting of two National Guard members allegedly by an Afghan national in the city last month, Trump said he planned to bring in hundreds more troops to support the operation.

Local leaders are holding hearings and raising the alarm about the arrests. But they acknowledge that in a federal district with limited autonomy, there is little they can do to push back.

“The frustrating truth,” said Brooke Pinto, a city council member, “is that we do not have the same levers of power and control, nor the same rights, as a district that every one of the 50 other states have to protect our residents.”