WASHINGTON – A U.S. attorney involved in an investigation regarding mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James is facing pressure to either step down or face termination, according to a source familiar with the situation, as reported by The Associated Press on Friday. This comes amid efforts by Trump administration officials to initiate criminal charges against James, who is seen as an opponent of the president.
The decision to replace Erik Siebert, a seasoned prosecutor from the respected Eastern District of Virginia, was shared by an individual who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information. Details about who informed Siebert of his removal, the reasons provided, or his potential successor remain unclear.
Spokespeople for Seibert’s office and the Justice Department declined to comment Friday.
This development coincides with aggressive attempts by Trump administration officials to act upon claims against James tied to alleged document discrepancies concerning her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia property. While the Justice Department has been probing these allegations for months, no charges have been filed, and it’s uncertain whether the investigation has unveiled sufficient incriminating evidence to warrant an indictment.
If the push to replace Siebert is intended to expedite criminal charges, it may augment concerns that the department — which is already scrutinizing other figures President Donald Trump views as adversaries — is being utilized by the White House as a tool for political vendettas.
James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.
ABC News initially reported on the pressure being applied by Trump administration officials to file charges, as well as plans to remove Siebert, who was appointed by Trump to lead the office after spending over ten years there.
Letitia James has been a notable target of Trump’s anger, partly due to a civil lawsuit she filed against him and his enterprise, resulting in a significant financial penalty. Last month, an appeals court overturned this penalty, though it upheld a judge’s determination that Trump had misrepresented his wealth for many years.
The case has taken a series of unorthodox turns. It emerged last month that Ed Martin, who helms the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group and is helping coordinate the investigation, had sent a letter urging James to resign from office “as an act of good faith” after starting his mortgage fraud investigation of her. He later turned up outside James’ Brooklyn townhouse in a “Columbo”-esque trench coat. A New York Post writer at the scene observed him tell a neighbor: “I’m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It’s an important house.”
James’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told Martin in a letter that the request for James’ resignation defied Justice Department standards and codes of professional responsibility and legal ethics.
The Justice Department “has firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends,” Lowell wrote. “This is ever more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the opposite party.”
A former District of Columbia police officer, Siebert had joined the Eastern District of Virginia — an elite Justice Department prosecution office with a history of sophisticated national security and criminal cases — in 2010. He was nominated to the role of U.S. attorney by Trump this year with the backing of the state’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
Although U.S. attorneys are presidential appointees, they are rarely fired. But the Trump administration has repeatedly disregarded norms and traditions meant to insulate Justice Department prosecutors from White House political influence. Prosecutors and other support personnel who worked on the special counsel team of Jack Smith that investigated and prosecuted Trump have been fired, as was Maurene Comey, whose father, former FBI Director James Comey, was terminated by Trump months into his first term amid the Russia election interference investigation.
Martin’s investigation stems from a letter Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi in April asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging she had “falsified bank documents and property records.”
Pulte, whose agency regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cited “media reports” claiming James had falsely listed a Virginia home as her principal residence, and he suggested she may have been trying to avoid higher interest rates that often apply to second homes.
Records show James was listed as a co-borrower on a house her niece was buying in 2023. Lowell said records and correspondence easily disproved Pulte’s allegation. While James signed a power-of-attorney form that, Lowell said, “mistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James’ principal residence,” she sent an email to her mortgage loan broker around the same time that made clear the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.”
Pulte also accused James of lying in property records about the number of apartments in the Brooklyn townhouse she has owned since 2001.
A certificate of occupancy issued to a previous owner authorized up to five units in the building, where James lives and has rented out apartments. Other city records show the townhouse has four units, a number James has listed in building permit applications and mortgage documents.
____ Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.
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