WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A federal prosecutor in Virginia whose monthslong mortgage fraud investigation into\u00a0New York Attorney General Letitia James\u00a0has not resulted in criminal charges resigned Friday under pressure from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Erik Siebert confirmed his departure in an email to colleagues, reviewed by The Associated Press, in which he praised them as the \u201cfinest and most exceptional\u201d of Justice Department employees but made no mention of the political turmoil that preceded his resignation.<\/p>\n
The replacement of Siebert as U.S. attorney for the prestigious Eastern District of Virginia office comes amid a push by Trump administration officials to indict James, a perceived adversary of the president who has successfully sued him for fraud. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he wanted Siebert \u201cout\u201d and multiple people familiar with the matter later told the AP that Siebert had informed his colleagues of his plan to resign from the position.<\/p>\n
The administration’s effort to oust him from the job represents a further erosion of norms meant to insulate the Justice Department from White House influence on prosecutorial decisions. The move is likely to deepen concerns that the department \u2014 already investigating other public figures Trump regards as foes \u2014 is being weaponized by a White House seeking to have its prosecutorial powers used for purposes of retribution.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear Friday afternoon who would replace Siebert, who was nominated by Trump to the top job in the office this year after having worked there for more than a decade. Siebert\u2019s top deputy, Maya Song, is also leaving her position as first assistant U.S. attorney and will work as a line prosecutor, one of the people familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n
Justice Department spokespeople declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Trump administration officials have been aggressively pursuing allegations against James arising from alleged paperwork discrepancies on her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home. The Justice Department has spent months conducting the investigation but has yet to bring charges, and there\u2019s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence that could support bringing an indictment.<\/p>\n
Asked about the issue at the White House Friday, Trump, without citing any evidence, said, \u201cIt looks to me like she\u2019s really guilty of something, but I really don\u2019t know.\u201d Trump also said he was bothered that Siebert had been supported by the state\u2019s two Democratic senators.<\/p>\n
James\u2019 lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.<\/p>\n
ABC News was first to report that Trump administration officials were pressuring prosecutors to bring charges and that the Republican administration was preparing to oust Siebert.<\/p>\n
James has long been a particular source of outrage for Trump, in part because of a lawsuit she filed against him and his company that resulted in\u00a0a massive financial penalty\u00a0last year. That penalty was thrown out last month by an appeals court that narrowly upheld a judge\u2019s finding that Trump had engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades.<\/p>\n
The case has taken a series of unorthodox turns. It emerged last month that Ed Martin, who leads\u00a0the Justice Department\u2019s Weaponization Working Group\u00a0and is helping coordinate the investigation, had sent\u00a0a letter\u00a0urging James to resign from office \u201cas an act of good faith\u201d after starting his mortgage fraud investigation of her. He later turned up outside James\u2019 Brooklyn townhouse in a \u201cColumbo\u201d-esque trench coat. A New York Post writer at the scene observed him tell a neighbor: \u201cI\u2019m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It\u2019s an important house.\u201d<\/p>\n
James\u2019 lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told Martin in\u00a0a letter\u00a0that the request for James\u2019 resignation defied Justice Department standards and codes of professional responsibility and legal ethics.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department \u201chas firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends,\u201d Lowell wrote. \u201cThis is ever more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the opposite party.\u201d<\/p>\n
A former District of Columbia police officer, Siebert joined the Eastern District of Virginia, an elite Justice Department prosecution office with a history of sophisticated national security and criminal cases, in 2010. He was nominated to the role of U.S. attorney by Trump this year with the backing of the state\u2019s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.<\/p>\n
The office has separately been involved in investigating matters related to the\u00a0years-old investigation\u00a0into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a longstanding grievance of the president. No charges have been announced as part of that work.<\/p>\n
Although U.S. attorneys are presidential appointees, they are rarely fired. But the Trump administration has repeatedly disregarded norms and traditions meant to protect Justice Department prosecutors from White House political influence.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors and other support personnel\u00a0who worked on the special counsel team of Jack Smith\u00a0that investigated and prosecuted Trump have been fired, as was\u00a0Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in New York whose father, former FBI Director James Comey, was terminated by Trump months into his first term amid the Russia election interference investigation.<\/p>\n
Martin\u2019s investigation stems from a letter Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi in April asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging she had \u201cfalsified bank documents and property records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pulte, whose agency regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cited \u201cmedia reports\u201d claiming James had falsely listed a Virginia home as her principal residence, and he suggested she may have been trying to avoid higher interest rates that often apply to second homes.<\/p>\n
Records show James was listed as a co-borrower on a house her niece was buying in 2023. Lowell said records and correspondence easily disproved Pulte\u2019s allegation. While James signed a power-of-attorney form that, Lowell said, \u201cmistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James\u2019 principal residence,\u201d she sent an email to her mortgage loan broker around the same time that made clear the property \u201cWILL NOT be my primary residence.\u201d<\/p>\n
____ Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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