Erik Siebert, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has resigned after President Trump called for his termination.
Mr. Trump said Friday he wanted to fire Mr. Siebert, after his monthslong investigation into longtime Trump nemesis New York Attorney General Letitia James had not come up with enough evidence to prosecute her for alleged mortgage fraud in Virginia.
“Yeah, I want him out, yeah,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. The president had nominated Mr. Siebert, who appeared on the path to Senate confirmation.
The president said Mr. Siebert’s support for confirmation from Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, had changed his mind about Mr. Siebert.
“When I learned that, he was blue-slipped through by two Democratic senators in Virginia … the people that haven’t voted for [Republicans] for probably years…” Mr. Trump said. “Warner and Kaine. Two bad guys, bad senators, too. They do a terrible job for the people of Virginia. But when I saw that he got approved by these two terrible people … when I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don’t really want him.”
ABC News first reported that Mr. Trump was expected to terminate Mr. Siebert after he failed to offer sufficient evidence that showed Ms. James committed mortgage fraud.
Mr. Siebert was appointed to his post in May, following his role as the interim U.S. attorney.
The Department of Justice launched a probe earlier in the year into whether Ms. James knowingly made false statements when she applied for home loans for properties in New York or Virginia.
Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte recommended the investigation be launched.
Ms. James allegedly indicated that her home in Norfolk, Virginia, would be her “principal residence” while acting as state attorney general. She said the fraud allegations are “baseless” and motivated by Mr. Trump seeking revenge because she brought civil fraud charges against him and his company, the Trump Organization, in New York state.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.