A Wisconsin judge who is being charged with helping a man in her court briefly avoid immigration officials has hired Paul Clement, a well-known conservative lawyer and top U.S. Supreme Court advocate, to build her defence.

Hannah Dugan, a circuit judge in Milwaukee County, was charged on Friday with blocking a government procedure and hiding someone to avoid being arrested.

On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court briefly relieved Dugan of her duties while her case is being heard.

When asked for a response, Clement did not answer right away. Mastantuono Coffee & Thomas, a law firm in Wisconsin that is defending Dugan, confirmed on Tuesday that Clement had been added to the team.

Clement was U.S. solicitor general during George W. Bush’s Republican government and has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court. In some cases, he has had disagreements with the Trump administration.

He is WilmerHale’s lawyer in its lawsuit against an order that President Trump signed last month that limits the U.S. law firm’s access to government officials and offices and targets its work with federal contractors.

Clement also spoke out against the administration’s plan to drop the federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, even though new charges could be brought. Early this month, the judge threw out the case for good after Clement, who was chosen by the court as an adviser, said it would otherwise hang over Adams like a “sword of Damocles.”

Dugan was arrested on Friday because of a disagreement over immigration enforcement that was getting worse between the Trump administration and local officials.

Trump, a Republican, started a broad crackdown on immigration as soon as he took office in January. The Justice Department has told federal attorneys to bring criminal charges against local officials who get in the way of the effort. A lot of people fought back like this during Trump’s first time in office, from 2017 to 2021.

When immigration officers came to her courtroom on April 18 to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz without a warrant, federal prosecutors said Dugan got in the way. Dugan allegedly tried to help Flores-Ruiz avoid being caught by letting him leave through a jury door, but police caught him outside the building.

After Dugan was arrested, the government did not try to hold her, and on Friday, a federal magistrate judge in Milwaukee freed her. On May 15, she is set to make a plea.

Steven Biskupic, who used to be the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, also works for Dugan. He didn’t answer right away when asked for a response.