A federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan stepped down from the bench to publicly criticize President Donald Trump’s use of the legal system for partisan purposes.
Mark Wolf, who served as a U.S. District Court judge for Massachusetts since his 1985 appointment, announced his resignation in an essay published in The Atlantic. Wolf, who spent more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the federal bench, said he could no longer remain silent about what he described as threats to judicial independence.
Wolf’s Reasons for Stepping Down
“My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom,” Wolf wrote. He accused Trump of using the law to target political opponents while protecting allies and donors from investigation and prosecution.
Wolf began his career at the Justice Department in 1974, shortly after the Watergate scandal. He credited former Attorney General Edward Levi with shaping his commitment to pursuing justice in a nonpartisan manner, a principle he said Trump’s administration has abandoned.
“The White House’s assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out. Silence, for me, is now intolerable,” Wolf added in The Atlantic essay.
White House Response
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson disputed Wolf’s characterization in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Judges who want to inject their own personal agenda into the law have no place on the bench,” Jackson said.
Jackson pointed to Supreme Court victories for Trump administration policies, stating that courts have upheld the administration’s positions as lawful despite numerous legal challenges. “Any other radical judges that want to complain to the press should at least have the decency to resign before doing so,” she added.
Wolf’s Next Steps
Wolf told The New York Times that he hopes to become “a spokesperson for embattled judges who, consistent with the code of conduct, feel they cannot speak candidly to the American people.” Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, was formally appointed to fill his seat in 2014 after Wolf assumed senior status in 2013.
This story has been updated. CNN’s staff contributed to this report.
