# What are we to make of Chad Wolf's resignation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 12, 2021, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302 "2021-01-12T01:39:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302/21 "2021-01-12T06:48:55Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > ETA: My overactive imagination just thought of one more, really terrifying possibility: he believes there will be violence at the inauguration and he is trying to distance himself from responsibility. Please tell me that’s insane thinking on my part. IMO he resigned because his job is done and he’s trying to distance himself to provide that GOP-beloved questionable deniability. He doesn’t _believe_ there will ne violence; he \*knows there will be violence. FFS at this point every American should know that there is going to be violence; they aren’t exactly being quiet about their intentions. Remember: [believe the autocrat](https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/). And Mr. Wolf has now done all the harm he can plausibly do, I suspect, without outing himself as an active participant just by being “in play” and so he is seeking some cover. How much about the Inauguration security plans do you think he knows? Who might he communicate with in the next few days? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302/22 "2021-01-12T07:28:46Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > > [@Duckster](#): > > > > He was unlawfully in his position in the first place. > > Sure, but why resign over that? Because if he is unlawfully in his position, any orders he issues during his unlawful tenure are at risk, and can be challenged in court. If the Trumpers have something nefarious planned in the lead-up to the inauguration that requires direction from Homeland Security — or if they just want to plant a bunch of obnoxious seeds to make Biden’s first six months more difficult, purely out of spite — they don’t want to give an administrative judge an easy excuse to wipe the slate clean. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302/23 "2021-01-12T10:47:12Z")
Yes, even though I fear being labeled a conspiracy theorist or paranoid, this move concerns me. As does the fact that Trump has approved the emergency declaration for the District of Columbia. This is from the White House statement: “The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.” I’m just a teeny bit worried about which side some of these FEMA and DHS folks are on and what they think this statement means. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302/24 "2021-01-12T17:43:23Z")
He publicly criticized Trump for the insurrection and was likely about to be fired so he jumped first. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302/25 "2021-01-12T18:10:31Z")
Or maybe crossing Trump makes him hell to deal with and he finally had enough. It’s surprising, though, that Wolf wouldn’t use the riots as a cover. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302/26 "2021-01-12T21:23:00Z")
That is a plausible, non threatening explanation. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302/27 "2021-01-12T21:35:45Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > My overactive imagination just thought of one more, really terrifying possibility: he believes there will be violence at the inauguration and he is trying to distance himself from responsibility. This was my first thought. > [@galen\_ubal](#): > > It seems possible - given his position - that he was partly or fully responsible for the security failures at the Capitol. Yeah, but why would that make him resign? I do think it’s plausible he was being pressured to further compromise security for the inauguration, and/or to make way for someone who _will_. Let’s see who is made Acting Director next – has that been announced? Are they a “Trump loyalist” or a career civil servant? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-to-make-of-chad-wolfs-resignation/930302.md?page=1)