(Official White House photo by Daniel Torok)

A Massachusetts-based federal judge publicized his abrupt departure from the bench after 40 years through an op-ed published Sunday by The Atlantic bemoaning President Donald Trump’s “angry attacks on the courts.”

Former U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf, 78, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, officially tendered his resignation from the lifetime appointment Friday. The former senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts later wrote in The Atlantic he was “relinquishing” his longtime post, claiming the Trump administration’s “assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out.”

Trump, whose name Wolf mentions 30 times in his piece, “is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment,” the former Massachusetts judge alleged.

“As I 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,” Wolf wrote. “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.”

In making his case against Trump, the judge referenced President Richard Nixon, in whose Department of Justice (DOJ) he briefly served.

“What Nixon did episodically and covertly, knowing it was illegal or improper, Trump now does routinely and overtly. Prosecutorial decisions during this administration are a prime example,” Wolf wrote.

Democrats have claimed the recent indictments of former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former National Security Adviser John Bolton by the Trump administration’s DOJ were politically motivated. Trump has fired back by pointing out the DOJ’s multiple indictments against him during the Biden administration.

“Trump is also dismantling the offices that could and should investigate possible corruption by him and those in his orbit,” Wolf added. “Trump’s angry attacks on the courts have coincided with an unprecedented number of serious threats against judges. There were nearly 200 from March to late May 2025 alone.”

Following his resignation, Wolf hopes “to be a spokesperson for embattled judges who, consistent with the code of conduct, feel they cannot speak candidly to the American people,” the 78-year-old told The New York Times in a phone interview.

Conservative attorney Mike Davis responded Sunday to Wolf’s op-ed in an X post, calling Wolf an “activist” judge.

“If Trump is so lawless, why has he won over 80% of his petitions to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket this year?” asked Davis, the founder and president of the Article III Project and a former clerk of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

1. Good riddance, Mark.

2. Mark is deceiving everyone by pretending he’s a Reagan Republican. Mark was hand-selected by both of his Massachusetts Democrat home-state senators.

3. Mark knows both of his Massachusetts Democrat home-state senators will keep open his vacancy until… https://t.co/KPOQhuz2yh

— Mike Davis (@mrddmia) November 9, 2025

Davis noted in his post that, while a Republican president appointed Wolf, the longtime jurist earned the stamp of approval of both Democratic Massachusetts Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Although Trump has the power to nominate a judge to replace Wolf on the bench, Davis pointed out that either Democratic Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Ed Markey can effectively block them from confirmation by honoring the Senate’s longtime “blue-slip” tradition for senators representing judicial nominees’ home states who can veto the selection in opposition.

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