Prominent conservative judge resigns, calling Trump ‘uniquely dangerous’

Amna Nawaz:

Mark Wolf, a Reagan-appointed federal judge, is resigning after four decades on the bench, and he's sounding the alarm.

In an essay published by "The Atlantic" this week, he wrote — quote — "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."

Judge Wolf shared additional context and more of his concerns when I spoke with him earlier today.

Judge Wolf, welcome to the "News Hour." Thank you for joining us.

Mark Wolf, Former U.S. District Court Judge:

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you and with some of the American people.

Amna Nawaz:

And I should say you have spent 50 years with the Department of Justice and on the bench. You have seen a lot of presidents come and go. What is so worrying about this moment and this president that made you want to speak out?

Mark Wolf:

Well, I think this president is unique and uniquely dangerous.

When a new president is elected, he or she is entitled to set priorities for the Department of Justice. But we have an ideal that's crucial to me and many others of equal justice under law.

And this president repeatedly, overtly directs the Department of Justice to prosecute his perceived political enemies at the same time that the Department of Justice is not investigating possible corruption by people close to the president and people who are doing things to profit the president and his family.

So that's utterly inconsistent with, as I said, this fundamental principle of equal justice under law, to which I have dedicated my professional life for 50 years. And it's personal to me. It's deeply disturbing.

Amna Nawaz:

So, from your time in the Department of Justice during Watergate, you have seen presidents push the limits of power. You also seen the guardrails hold. Why are you worried that they won't hold now?

Mark Wolf:

Well, I'm worried in part because I think all of the abuse that's been showered on the courts and the judges is causing people to lose confidence in the integrity and the impartiality of the judicial process.

When the Supreme Court ordered Richard Nixon to turn over the tapes he made secretly in the Oval Office that had incriminating information about him and his close colleagues, he understood that he had to obey that order because the American people would not tolerate disobedience and he would have been impeached and removed.

I'm not sure, I'm not confident that that would occur today, because when judges like my colleagues rule against the president, he says that they're corrupt and they should be impeached. And the judges are not in a position to respond, except by continuing to do their work with integrity and impartially.

But I'm afraid that that's not a message that's getting to the American people.

Amna Nawaz:

From your conversations with your fellow judges, do others share these concerns? How widely held is this concern?

Mark Wolf:

We don't discuss particular cases, but I would say that this concern is widely held.

The judges work hard. The criticism from the president, I believe, doesn't influence the way any cases are being decided by any judge that I know. We or now they do their work and hope it speaks for itself. But it is disturbing to be called crooked, not because it hurts your feelings, but because, when that doesn't get answered, many people might think you really are crooked.

And, indeed, the president's vitriolic comments have coincided with threats of harm, death threats, among others, to many federal judges. And people are genuinely concerned. Judges are genuinely concerned about that and concerned for their families and the anxiety this is causing their families.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, it's also true, as you know, Judge, that the president's been known to publicly go after his critics. You are now giving national interviews criticizing him. Have you thought about what happens or are you worried that he might come after you?

Mark Wolf:

I recognize there's a risk of that.

And I'm 79 years old. I have been threatened at times in my career. But I have had a very meaningful life, a fulfilling life. If I may get personal, I will say my grandmother crossed (INAUDIBLE) in a covered wagon as a teenage orphan.

My father in the Great Depression was admitted to Harvard, couldn't afford to go. I have had an excellent education. I have had very meaningful opportunities for fulfilling public service. I would like my grandchildren and everybody's grandchildren to have similar opportunities for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as they define it, that I have had.

And I certainly hope that neither I nor anybody close to me is harmed because of what I'm doing. But I do really think that we shouldn't be intimidated. And if there's the opportunity to contribute, because I don't expect I'm going to make a difference myself, but if I can contribute, working with others, including others who urge me to leave the bench and join them in this effort to protect our rule of law and our democracy that's long made the United States the world's best hope, I feel compelled to try to contribute to that, despite the foreseeable risks.

Amna Nawaz:

Judge, you have said that you believe democracy is in peril here, and a lot of folks will see that as hyperbole. They will say, look, we have a duly elected president. Any challenges to his policies are making their way through the courts. The administration says that they abide by the rule of law and that they abide by judges' orders.

For people who are not necessarily worried about democracy day to day, what's at stake here?

Mark Wolf:

First of all, the president may say that all court orders are being faithfully obeyed. Responsible media report that it appears that many of them are not being obeyed or properly obeyed.

And, basically, democracy is the rule of law. And if court orders are disobeyed, then the president has absolute power. Judges don't have armies to enforce their orders. They rely on the support of the American people who want to live in a true democracy. If they want to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as they define it, then I think you need courts that will hold elected officials to the limits of the power delegated to them from the people.

That's the promise of the Declaration of Independence, and particularly the Constitution. We, the people, have delegated some power to elected officials, including the presidents, and the responsibility of the courts, in part, is to hold those officials to the limits of that delegated power.

Otherwise, we're going to live in the kind of autocracy that I have seen around the world, where people are oppressed because there's no restraint on the elected officials.

Amna Nawaz:

That is retired federal Judge Mark Wolf joining us tonight.

Judge Wolf, thank you for your time. It's good to speak with you.

Mark Wolf:

Thank you very much.