Retired federal judge who wrote anti-Trump op-ed reportedly faced misconduct inquiry before resigning

Mark Wolf, who in November retired from his post as senior judge with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, was the subject of an inquiry into alleged misconduct that was nixed due to his resignation, NPR reported, citing a source familiar with the probe.

Wolf, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, pointed to President Donald Trump last year in an opinion piece explaining his reason for stepping down from the judiciary.

"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. 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," he asserted in the piece. 

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"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," he wrote.

In a Nov. 24, 2025, order, Chief Judge David Barron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit noted that a former law clerk of a district judge had alleged misconduct.

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"I conducted a limited inquiry … which included lengthy oral interviews of the subject judge and the former law clerk, respectively, review of the written summary of these interviews, several conversations with the subject judge, and review of a number of written submissions from the subject judge," Barron wrote. 

"The interviews were conducted by designees who are experienced in such investigations," a footnote clarified.

"However, further 'action on the complaint is no longer necessary because of intervening events,' and, accordingly, the complaint is concluded pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 352(b)(2)," Barron noted.

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The website of Todd & Weld LLP indicates that Wolf is senior counsel. Fox News Digital reached out on Friday to request a comment from the retired judge.

"Chief Judge Denise J. Casper notes that 'Judge Wolf has served on this Court with distinction for over four decades,'" a November press release about Wolf's retirement from the federal court stated.