Sept. 20 (UPI) — The acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was forced out after failing to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James regarding mortgage loan fraud.
Erik Siebert notified staff on Friday that he resigned, but President Donald Trump said he was fired. Siebert was nominated for the position and was awaiting Senate confirmation.
On Saturday, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Mary “Maggie” Cleary, an attorney active in Republican politics, as acting U.S. attorney for the division, according an internal email obtained by Politico and The Washington Post.
This month, Cleary rejoined the DOJ as a senior counsel in the criminal division in the District of Columbia after working in the Culpepper Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and Virginia state agencies.
She was placed on administrative leave in the DOJ’s Virginia Western District for being on Capitol grounds during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Clear said she was “framed” and was ultimately cleared.
“This evening, I submitted my resignation as interim US Attorney for EDVA,” Siebert’s email, obtained by ABC News, read. “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. Thank you for the lessons you have taught me, the sacrifices you have made, and the pursuit of justice you strive for every day.”
On Saturday, Trump posted on X that he “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 was referring to Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
In a joint statement, Kaine and Warner said Siebert lost his job because his office was “unable to find incriminating evidence of mortgage fraud” against James, noting that there had been bipartisan support for his nomination.
“In April, after an extensive interview process that included the input of a bipartisan panel of former Virginia U.S. attorneys and other well-respected members of the Virginia legal community, Warner and Kaine sent a letter to the White House recommending Siebert for the U.S. attorney position,” they wrote. “In May, the White House announced that Siebert was formally nominated for the role,” Warner and Kaine said.
Both senators from a nominee’s state are sent a blue slip in which they may submit a favorable or unfavorable opinion of a nominee, regardless of their party. The Senate Judiciary Committee takes blue slips into consideration when deciding whether to recommend that the Senate confirm a nominee.
Media outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, reported that Justice Department prosecutors in Virginia believed they have not gathered enough evidence to indict James.
“Erik Siebert is an ethical prosecutor who refused to bring criminal charges against Trump’s perceived enemies when the facts wouldn’t support it,” the senators wrote. “The Eastern District of Virginia is at the forefront of significant cases essential to our national security, and just like any court in America, should be focused on justice instead of a thin-skinned president’s vendettas.”
Siebert, who worked for 15 years in Virginia as an assistant U.S. attorney, was the lead attorney for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the deputy criminal supervisor for the Richmond Division.
He was also a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.
In March, he appeared with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and FBI Director Kash Patel on the arrest of an alleged MS-13 gang member in Northern Virginia.
Before posting on Truth Social, Trump told reporters, “Yeah, I want him out. When I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don’t really want him.”
New York’s attorney general is among three people targeted by the Trump administration for alleged loan fraud involving claims about two primary residences in Virginia and New York. No Republicans have been named, though Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin have two primary residences on loan paper, ProPublica reported.
William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, wrote a letter to Bondi alleging that James had “in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government-backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.” The letter was obtained by CBS News.
“The allegations are baseless,” James told NY1, “The allegations are nothing more than a revenge tour.”
James has been in Trump’s crosshairs since June 2022, when she sued Trump and the Trump Organization, alleging they inflated the values of properties.
Trump was ordered to pay $355 million in restitution for “ill-gotten gains” from his inflated financial statements, state Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled. With interest, the amount was raised to $527 earlier this year. But the Appellare Division in New York earlier this year canceled the fine and James has appealed.
Pulte has also targeted California Sen. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, appointed by President Joe Biden. Trump fired Cook, but the district and appeals courts have ruled that Trump doesn’t have the authority to fire someone from the Federal Reserve without due process and only for cause. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in.