Reagan-appointed federal judge resigns to speak out against Trump's 'assault on the rule of law'

A federal judge appointed by former President Ronald Reagan announced in an op-ed published Sunday that he resigned from his position, relinquishing his lifetime appointment to speak out against President Donald Trump, whom he views as eroding judicial independence and using the law to reward allies and punish opponents.

Mark Wolf, who was appointed by Reagan in 1985, said in The Atlantic that he had looked forward to serving on the bench for the rest of his life but felt compelled to resign.

"My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom. 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," he wrote.

"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. 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."

Senior Judge Mark L. Wolf of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts listens to opening statements during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on federal judicial ethics at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 17, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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The former federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said he began his career in public service at the Department of Justice in 1974, several years after the Watergate scandal.

Wolf served under former President Gerald Ford’s Attorney General Edward Levi, who he argued helped shape his views on what it means to uphold the rule of law and to seek justice in a nonpartisan way.

"I decided all of my cases based on the facts and the law, without regard to politics, popularity, or my personal preferences. That is how justice is supposed to be administered—equally for everyone, without fear or favor. This is the opposite of what is happening now," he wrote.

Attorney General-designate Edward Levi, right, visits outgoing Attorney General William Saxbe at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. (Bettmann / Contributor/Getty Images)

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Wolf’s successor was selected and nominated after he became a senior judge in 2013, and the seat was officially filled by Judge Indira Talwani in 2014.

"I hope to be a spokesperson for embattled judges who, consistent with the code of conduct, feel they cannot speak candidly to the American people," he told The New York Times.

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White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Fox News Digital that judges who "want to inject their own personal agenda into the law have no place on the bench."

"Here’s the reality: with over 20 Supreme Court victories, the Trump Administration’s policies have been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court as lawful despite an unprecedented number of legal challenges and unlawful lower court rulings," Jackson said. "And any other radical judges that want to complain to the press should at least have the decency to resign before doing so."