President Donald Trump’s plan to retaliate against New York Attorney General Letitia James is facing a significant setback.
Trump said Friday he wanted to fire a federal prosecutor after he could not find any incriminating evidence that James committed mortgage fraud. But the attorney resigned Friday evening, the Associated Press reports.
The Trump administration told Erik Siebert, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, that the president intends to fire him, ABC News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Siebert’s last day is reportedly Sept. 19.
Siebert was appointed to an investigation connected to allegations that James falsified bank documents to obtain government-backed assistance, loans and more favorable loan terms.
People reacted to news of Siebert’s firing online.
“This is not just weaponization of the Justice Department, it’s a gross abuse of power,” one person wrote on Threads. “WTF he wants then to make up fake charges. The man is out of control and Congress needs to deal with him,” another added.
The allegations were spelled out in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, who urged Bondi to launch a federal referral for potential criminal prosecution against James.
Siebert’s role was to investigate one claim tied to a property James purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2023. Pulte alleged that James declared the property as her principal residence, despite living and working in New York.
The document that came into question was a limited power of attorney form used by James’ niece to sign documents on her behalf when James closed on the home. However, loan officers who approved the mortgage never considered the document.
After Siebert’s investigation yielded no hard evidence that James had knowingly falsified any records, he declined to indict her.
According to ABC News’ sources, administration officials still pressured Siebert to pursue criminal charges, but when he didn’t, Pulte encouraged Trump to fire Siebert.
Pulte has also accused James of purchasing a five-unit property in Brooklyn in 2001 with a loan designated for homes with only four units or fewer.
The move to relieve Siebert of his position over his refusal to indict James underscores the severity of Trump’s crusade to enact retribution against his perceived political adversaries. In the last year, the president has peppered his speeches with vows to retaliate against his political opponents, critics, and members of the media, threatening to criminally prosecute them or oust them from office.
“We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government,” the president said in an address to the Justice Department in March. “We will expose, very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct. It’s going to be legendary.”
Trump has repeatedly attacked James after she successfully sued him for falsely inflating his net worth and the worth of his assets to advance his business endeavors.
The case ended in a judgment that found Trump civilly liable for fraud and ordered the president and his family to pay more than $450 million. A New York appeals court tossed the financial penalty last month, but the ruling still stands.
An attorney for James called Siebert’s firing a “brazen attack on the rule of law.”
“Firing people until he finds someone who will bend the law to carry out his revenge has been the President’s pattern — and it’s illegal,” Abbe Lowell told ABC News. “Punishing this prosecutor, a Trump appointee, for doing his job sends a clear and chilling message that anyone who dares uphold the law over politics will face the same fate.”
Trump nominated Siebert for his position in May. Now, he’s reportedly planning to appoint a replacement who will conduct a more aggressive investigation against James.
The Department of Justice also subpoenaed James for information connected to her investigations into the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association. A grand jury probe was also opened to look into whether James deprived Trump of his constitutional rights.
On that matter, a spokesperson for James told Atlanta Black Star, “Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American. We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights.”
Trump is also engaged in a bitter battle to remove Black female economist Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, for which he has faced significant legal hurdles. On Thursday, the administration sought an emergency order to remove Cook from the board.
“So he blatantly is targeting powerful black women and men, and no one is going to do anything about it,” one Instagram user wrote.
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