Reagan-Appointed Federal Judge Resigns to Speak Freely Against Trump

Mark Wolf, a senior federal judge first appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, resigned this weekend in order to freely speak out against what he called the Trump administration’s “assault on the rule of law.”

“President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment,” Mark Wolf wrote in a Sunday letter published by The Atlantic. “This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench.”

Wolf was first appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 1985 at the age of 38, where he presided over public corruption cases even after being promoted to a senior status in 2013.

Recalling Trump’s Truth Social post directing the Attorney General’s office to seek indictments against several of his political enemies, Wolf said he “watched in dismay and disgust from my position on the bench.”

“I came to feel deeply uncomfortable operating under the necessary ethical rules that muzzle judges’ public statements and restrict their activities,” he added. “Day after day, I observed in silence as President Trump, his aides, and his allies dismantled so much of what I dedicated my life to.”

Wolf said he was concerned that Trump has dismantled “the offices that could and should investigate possible corruption by him and those in his orbit” including firing agency inspectors general and eliminating the FBI’s public-corruption squad, even amid the rising number of threats against judges.

There were nearly 200 violent threats against judges between March and May of this year, Wolf writes. According to data reported by the U.S. Marshals, threats against federal judges trend about 500 threats against 350 judges per calendar year.

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, and both parties, have introduced legislation to provide greater support for judges’ security in the last year. In July, House Reps. Lucy McBath and Michael McCaul introduced the bipartisan “Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act” to provide technical assistance, training, and monitoring of threats for state and local judges and court personnel following the passage of companion legislation last year in the Senate.

Wolf’s resignation from the judicial bench after 40 years comes amid a string of Reagan-appointed judges emerging as vocal critics of Trump. Wolf previously spoke out against the Trump administration while testifying before a Senate panel in 2023 about his concerns with how ethics complaints against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas were handled.

At the annual conference for the D.C-based conservative legal organization, The Federalist Society, on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called on young conservative lawyers to join the fight against “activist judges.”

In addition to pursuing charges against political opponents, including New York Attorney General Letita James and former FBI Director James Comey, the White House is seeking concealment charges against Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan for attempting to help an undocumented immigrant evade arrest.

“There’s a group of judges that are repeat players, and that’s obviously not by happenstance, that’s intentional, and it’s a war, man,” Blanche said on Friday. “It’s happening over and over and over again…The system is not set up for efficiency when it comes to rogue activist judges.”

In his letter, Wolf said that while he plans to step back from his role as a judge, he has no plans of leaving the legal profession.

“I resigned in order to speak out, support litigation, and work with other individuals and organizations dedicated to protecting the rule of law and American democracy,” Wolf said. “I also intend to advocate for the judges who cannot speak publicly for themselves.”