‘Brazenly partisan’ judge who flip-flopped on retirement over Trump now targeted with misconduct charge

An organization that monitors judicial activism has filed a complaint over the retirement flip-flopping of Circuit Judge James A. Wynn, asking the 4th Circuit Judicial Council to investigate him for possible misconduct.

It is the Article III Project that has filed a complaint about possible violations of the Code of Conduct for United State Judges following Wynn’s decision to withdraw from his announced retirement plan.

The reversal came right after President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.

The organization, A3P, explained Wynn had announced in January 2024 that he would move to senior status when a successor was confirmed.

Senior status means a judge still can be assigned cases but the work load is much reduced.

Then, right after the November election that Trump won by a landslide, Wynn rescinded his retirement plan.

A3P’s complaint makes clear that this sudden reversal was politically motivated and undermines public trust in the judiciary.

“In July 2024, President Biden nominated Ryan Park to replace Judge Wynn. On November 6, 2024, Donald Trump was widely recognized as the winner and President-elect. About two weeks later, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a bipartisan deal for bringing certain pending judicial nominations for a floor vote while declining to bring others who lacked sufficient votes to be confirmed—and Ryan Park’s nomination was one of those in the latter category. Accordingly, it was clear since at least November 21, 2024, that there was a bipartisan deal in the Senate not to confirm Park,” the complaint charges.

“On December 12, 2024, despite having no prospect of being confirmed anyway, Park formally withdrew his nomination, notice of which the White House promptly conveyed to the Senate. Just one day later, Judge Wynn withdrew his January 2024 letter announcing his intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of his successor. His new letter says he plans to remain in active status, and he provides no explanation except that he changed his mind ‘after careful consideration,'” the organization charged.

It continues, “On the public record as it currently exists, every indication is that Judge Wynn—who had already celebrated his retirement nine months earlier—had a change of heart solely because of the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, then may have coordinated with Park and the White House to give the misimpression that Park’s pointless withdrawal was what prompted Judge Wynn’s change of heart. If that is proven, it would violate several Canons of the Code of Conduct of United States Judges.”

WND had reported on the controversy surrounding Wynn’s flip-flop.

It was Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who reacted to the announcement from Wynn, a Barack Obama judge.

Judge Wynn’s brazenly partisan decision to rescind his retirement is an unprecedented move that demonstrates some judges are nothing more than politicians in robes. Judge Wynn clearly takes issue with the fact that @realDonaldTrump was just elected President, and this decision is…

— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) December 14, 2024

The senator explained, “Judge Wynn’s brazenly partisan decision to rescind his retirement is an unprecedented move that demonstrates some judges are nothing more than politicians in robes. Judge Wynn clearly takes issue with the fact that @realDonaldTrump was just elected President, and this decision is a slap in the face to the U.S. Senate, which came to a bipartisan agreement to hold off on confirming his replacement until the next Congress is sworn-in in January. The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on his blatant attempt to turn the judicial retirement system into a partisan game, and he deserves the ethics complaints and recusal demands from the Department of Justice heading his way.”

WND had reported earlier on the political announcements by two other judges who reversed their plans after Trump’s landslide election win.

Their actions prompted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican whose party soon will be the Senate majority, to warn about the active politicization of the judiciary.

He called the announcements by the two judges, one appointed by Bill Clinton and the other by Barack Obama, an indication of “a political finger on the scale.” He said the incoming Trump administration, backed by GOP majorities in the Senate and House should “explore all available recusal options with these judges.”

Under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris regime over the last four years, the administrative state in Washington has been weaponized in multiple ways against Trump, Republicans and conservatives. One report showed 70% of education enforcement actions against colleges targeted the 10% of institutions that are Christian. Further, the FBI and DOJ openly assembled wild claims against Trump, such as that he improperly had government documents after his first presidency. In contrast, Biden was given a pass for having literally boxes of such documents in his garage after his vice presidency.

The judges who abruptly changed their retirement plans following Trump’s victory, which would mean a Republican president would nominate their replacements, were Judge Algenon Marbley of Ohio and Judge Max Cogburn of North Carolins.

Marbley was appointed by Clinton and Cogburn by Obama.

They both has announced plans to take senior status before the election, then flip-flopped when Trump won.

‘Unprecedented’: Federal judges go political, reverse their ‘retirements’ after Trump’s election win