Trump says US attorney who didn’t charge political enemy Letitia James with mortgage fraud should be fired

By Kristen Holmes, Casey Gannon, Adam Cancryn, CNN

(CNN) — The US attorney who has been under pressure to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud should lose his job, President Donald Trump said Friday.

“Yeah, I want him out, yeah,” Trump said in response to a question about firing US Attorney Erik Siebert, adding he also disliked that Virginia’s two Democratic senators had approved him as part of a Senate custom. “When I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don’t really want him.”

Two sources familiar with the issue said Friday that Trump intends to fire Siebert, the US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, but it is not immediately clear if Siebert has been informed.

James, who won a business fraud case against Trump and his company, has been a target of the president ever since. Trump has privately and angrily complained about James even months into taking office, multiple sources familiar with the conversations told CNN.

CNN previously reported that Justice Department prosecutors in Virginia believed they have not gathered enough evidence to indict James.

A source briefed on the internal conversations said Siebert and his office have been bracing for this possibility as the administration has ramped up the political pressure in recent weeks.

“He wanted to be a team player, but also follow the law,” one person said.

Siebert’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment on CNN’s earlier reporting.

Siebert was nominated to the position by Trump in May. He had been serving as the interim US attorney since January.

Like many others who were appointed to the position of US attorney during the second Trump administration, Siebert received an extension from the court to serve indefinitely while awaiting confirmation from the Senate.

As the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Siebert oversees a staff of approximately 300 people. He is responsible for four divisions in Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk and Newport News.

He started at the Eastern District of Virginia in 2010 as an assistant US attorney. During his time as a prosecutor, he handled a wide variety of cases, including violent crime, public corruption and illegal immigration. During his years as a prosecutor, he also served as the lead task force attorney for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the deputy criminal supervisor for the Richmond Division.

Siebert has received multiple awards during his nearly 15 years of being a prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Prior to becoming a prosecutor, Siebert spent time as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, and he received his JD from the University of Richmond Law School.

CNN’s Evan Perez contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with President Trump’s comments Friday afternoon.

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