Trump Escalates His War on Judiciary and Democrats

'Hands Off!' protests against Trump administration in Downtown Tampa

Trump Escalates and Has a Judge Arrested

In an unprecedented move that should alarm every American, Wisconsin Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by federal authorities and charged with obstruction of justice. Her supposed offense? Allegedly directing an undocumented immigrant and his attorney to exit through a side door of her courtroom after expressing concern over plainclothes ICE agents waiting outside to detain him.

This arrest wasn’t about enforcing immigration law. It was about punishing a judge for asserting judicial authority in her own courtroom—and for challenging Trump’s increasingly militarized immigration tactics. It was an unmistakable escalation in Trump’s ongoing campaign to destroy the independence of the judiciary and weaponize federal power against anyone who defies him.

Trump continues to show open contempt for the rule of law and the very idea of judicial independence. He has ignored court orders, called for the impeachment of judges who rule against him, and publicly smeared judges up to the Supreme Court. He has vilified judges as "enemies" when their rulings don't serve his political goals, and now he’s arrested one.

The message to judges is as clear as it is chilling—obey or be destroyed.

Purging the Judiciary, Russian-Style

Trump’s moves against Judge Dugan are not isolated incidents. They reflect a broader authoritarian strategy that mirrors how Putin dismantled Russia’s short-lived experiment with judicial independence. After consolidating power, Putin systematically brought the courts under Kremlin control. Judges who issued rulings unfavorable to the regime were reassigned, disciplined, or removed altogether. In politically sensitive cases—particularly those involving opposition figures, journalists, foreign hostages taken by the regime, or activists—judges are expected to rule in favor of the state.

What remains in Russia is not an independent legal system, but a loyal arm of state repression. The judiciary has become a rubber stamp for Kremlin interests, its purpose not justice, but obedience.

Trump is following the same authoritarian blueprint in the United States. He sees judges not as impartial arbiters, but as political threats to be discredited, harassed, or purged.

Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel—an extremist conspiracy theorist with no law enforcement background and a history of promoting Trump’s most dangerous narratives—publicly celebrated Judge Dugan’s arrest on social media, only to delete the tweet. Attorney General Pam Bondi, another Trump loyalist, appeared on Fox News to smear the judge as someone “protecting a criminal defendant,” further stoking outrage and deepening the regime’s narrative of judicial defiance.

These statements have nothing to do with justice. They are deliberate acts of political theater—designed to vilify independent judges, incite public anger, and normalize the criminalization of those who dare to resist Trump’s extremist agenda.

As with any authoritarian regime, once the judiciary is compromised, every other check on executive power begins to crumble.

Dismantling the Opposition: ActBlue Under Attack

In lockstep with his assault on the judiciary, Trump launched an attack on the Democratic Party’s fundraising infrastructure. On Thursday, he signed an executive memorandum ordering the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the central platform for grassroots Democratic donations. Without offering a shred of credible evidence, Trump accused the platform of facilitating “foreign contributions” and “dummy” donations.

Just as Putin crushed any attempt at opposition by targeting NGOs, shutting down independent media, and cutting off funding to any group not aligned with the Kremlin, Trump is using the power of the state to choke the financial lifeline of his political opponents. It’s a transparent and dangerous abuse of federal authority—aimed at silencing dissent, criminalizing and dismantling opposition, and consolidating total control.

By weaponizing the Justice Department to go after ActBlue, Trump is attempting to shut down the single most important opposition funding network in the country. ActBlue is how millions of everyday Americans donate to support candidates. It fuels grassroots energy and funds competitive campaigns.

It’s a blatant abuse of power designed to criminalize dissent, silence millions of voices, and clear the field for one-party rule.

The allegations against ActBlue are baseless. But that’s not the point. The point is intimidation and to make donors, campaigns, and activists afraid. We can’t let them!

The Rubber Stamp Congress

While all of this unfolds, the Republican-led Congress has become nothing more than a rubber stamp for Trump’s— often illegal— directives. Oversight has been abandoned, and lawmakers who once decried government overreach now cheer it on, eager to remain in Trump’s good graces. With Congress sidelined, the only real check left on executive overreach is the judiciary—and that’s exactly why it is under attack.

Federal power is being centralized under Trump. Disloyalty is being punished, and every key institution is being purged, co-opted, or bullied into silence. It is the methodical replacement of democracy with an authoritarian state. And in just 95 days…

Judges, journalists, lawyers, academics, and the opposition are all targets as civil service is being gutted and a surveillance state is being built.

If we normalize this—if we treat the arrest of judges and the targeting of political opponents as just more partisan noise—then we are sleepwalking into dictatorship.

It’s Happening Here and Now.

Trump has made clear that no institution is safe, no law is sacred, and no opponent will be spared. Whether it’s ICE agents inside courtrooms, DOJ investigations into political platforms or opponents, or extortion of law firms and attempted takeover of universities, the strategy is the same — consolidate power, silence dissent, and erase the guardrails of democracy.

So what do we do? We push back—with everything we’ve got.
We demand that Democrats in Congress stop playing defense and start using every tool they have. We challenge pundits and news outlets that normalize or both-sides Trump’s dangerous authoritarian tactics, and demand they stop framing his dismantling of democracy as mere partisan bickering. We support investigative journalism, fund opposition candidates at every level, and organize locally. We document everything and push back on every action.

And most importantly, we don’t wait for someone else to save us.

Democracy doesn’t die in a single moment. It erodes when good people stay silent, institutions retreat in fear, and outrage turns into resignation.