President Donald Trump insisted on Saturday that he fired Interim U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert after reports came out that he resigned on Friday.
Siebert reportedly intended to resign after Trump publicly said that he wanted him ousted from his position. The president’s administration had pressured Siebert to investigate New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud.
“Today I withdrew the Nomination of Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, when I was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia. He didn’t quit, I fired him! Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Siebert wrote an email to staff in Alexandria on Friday informing them that he intended to resign, ABC News reported.
“For the last eight months, I have had the pleasure of leading the finest and most exceptional of DOJ employees, who care deeply about our nation and our EDVA community,” Siebert wrote. “Thank you for the lessons you have taught me, the sacrifices you have made, and the pursuit of justice you strive for every day.”
Trump fired Siebert because investigators could not find sufficient evidence to charge James for mortgage fraud, the outlet reported. The president said she was “very guilty of something” in the Oval Office on Friday.
His public reasoning for his firing of Siebert was that Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) supported his confirmation. “When I saw that he got approved by those two men, I said, pull it, because he can’t be any good,” Trump said. “When I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don’t really want him.”
James, who has not been charged, was under investigation by the Department of Justice for mortgage fraud concerning her Norfolk, Virginia, home and her Brooklyn domicile.
The administration alleged she marked the Virginia home as a “primary residence” to earn better mortgage rates when she didn’t live there. They also said she took out a loan meant for domiciles with four units or fewer for a five-unit domicile.
James filed a lawsuit against Trump and his company in 2022 for fraud and later won, forcing the president to pay millions in fines. Trump considers her an adversary.
The New York Attorney General’s attorney called Siebert’s firing “illegal.”
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“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 said Friday morning in a statement to 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,” he added.