‘Whitey’ Bulger Judge Needed Security After ‘Perceived Threat’ From the FBI

The judge who exposed the “Whitey” Bulger scandal has told The Daily Beast that a “perceived threat” from the FBI against his family during the high-profile case has helped to spur on his campaign to create an International Anti-Corruption Court.

Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf said he never felt threatened in years on the bench—despite handling numerous organized crime cases—until he was on the verge of exposing corruption inside the FBI.

Wolf presided over a 1998 hearing into why the FBI had failed to tell prosecutors that James “Whitey” Bulger had been a high-level informant for 15 years. He discovered that the FBI had protected Bulger and his colleague Stephen “the Rifleman” Flemmi from a host of criminal allegations—including murder—so that they could continue to act as Mafia informants. Bulger was even tipped off by his FBI handler ahead of a planned arrest, allowing him to go on the run for 16 years.

Read more at The Daily Beast.