On September 19, 2025, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, resigned under mounting pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James—a move that has sent shockwaves through the legal and political communities, igniting debate over the independence of the Justice Department and the boundaries of presidential influence.
Siebert’s resignation, confirmed in an email to his Alexandria office and first reported by ABC News and the Associated Press, came after months of pressure from Trump administration officials. The pressure stemmed from Siebert’s refusal to indict James for alleged mortgage fraud, despite a five-month investigation that included interviews with 15 witnesses and a thorough examination of the evidence. According to ABC News, investigators were unable to find clear evidence that James knowingly falsified records related to her 2023 purchase of a home in Virginia. The investigation had begun in April 2025, following a criminal referral from Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who alleged James had falsified documents to secure more favorable loan terms.
In his resignation email, Siebert praised his colleagues as “the finest and most exceptional of DOJ employees, who care deeply about our nation and our EDVA community.” Notably, he did not mention the political turmoil or the circumstances leading to his departure, though sources told AP that the White House had given him the option to step down or be fired.
President Trump was direct about his reasons for wanting Siebert out, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “When I saw that he got approved by those two men [Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine], I said, ‘Pull it, because he can’t be any good.’” Trump added, “It looks to me like she [James] is very guilty of something, but I really don’t know.” Trump’s frustration with Siebert’s bipartisan support—Warner and Kaine, both Democrats, had recommended Siebert for the post—was palpable, with Trump stating, “When I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don’t really want him.”
The resignation leaves the leadership of the prestigious Eastern District of Virginia office in disarray. Siebert’s deputy, Maya Song, has also left her leadership role and will continue as a line prosecutor, but with both top positions vacant, questions swirl about who will steer the office and how ongoing cases—including high-profile national security matters—will proceed. The office, known for prosecuting the likes of Zacarias Moussaoui after the September 11 attacks, is a key pillar in the federal justice system.
The episode has reignited concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department. Legal experts and former officials warn that the forced departure of Siebert, a Trump appointee, for refusing to pursue charges against a political rival, marks a troubling escalation in what critics call a campaign of retribution. “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,” said James’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, 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.”
James herself has been a frequent target of Trump’s ire, particularly after she led a successful civil fraud lawsuit against him and his company. That case concluded after a three-month trial in 2024, with a New York judge finding that Trump and his family had committed a decade of business fraud by overstating the value of their properties to obtain favorable loans. The court levied a penalty of nearly half a billion dollars, though an appeals court later overturned the financial penalty while upholding the finding of fraud. Trump, never one to mince words, called James “a horror show who ran on the basis that she was going to get Trump before she even knew anything about me,” and described the legal proceedings as “election interference, plain and simple.”
The mortgage fraud investigation into James was initiated after Pulte’s referral, which cited media reports and alleged that James had falsely listed a Virginia home as her principal residence. However, records and correspondence obtained by investigators showed that James, though listed as a co-borrower on a house her niece was buying in 2023, had clarified in an email to her mortgage broker that the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.” Lowell, James’ attorney, asserted that these records easily disproved Pulte’s allegations, dismissing the probe as a politically motivated fishing expedition.
Adding a layer of drama to the saga, Ed Martin, head of the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, sent James a letter urging her to resign “as an act of good faith” after the mortgage fraud investigation began. Martin was even spotted outside James’ Brooklyn townhouse in a trench coat, telling a neighbor, “I’m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It’s an important house,” according to The New York Post. Lowell responded to Martin’s letter by highlighting that the Justice Department “has firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends,” especially when such demands are made to seek political revenge.
The Trump administration’s approach to the Justice Department has drawn scrutiny before. As AP notes, several prosecutors—particularly those involved in investigations of Trump or his associates—have been fired in recent years, including Maurene Comey, whose father, former FBI Director James Comey, was also dismissed by Trump. The administration’s willingness to disregard norms intended to insulate Justice Department prosecutors from White House influence has alarmed many in the legal community, who see the Siebert episode as another example of this trend.
Siebert, a former Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department officer, joined the Eastern District of Virginia in 2010 and built a reputation as a dedicated prosecutor, heading the office’s organized drug crime task force and leading its Richmond division. Warner and Kaine, in their May statement supporting his nomination, said, “Mr. Siebert has dedicated his career to protecting public safety... With his experience and dedication to service, Mr. Siebert is equipped to handle the challenges and important obligations associated with this position.”
As of now, Siebert intends to continue working as a line prosecutor in the office, though it remains unclear whether he will be permitted to return to his previous role. Meanwhile, the absence of clear leadership at one of the nation’s most important U.S. attorney’s offices raises concerns about the continuity of justice and the independence of federal prosecutors. For many observers, the episode is a stark reminder of the delicate balance between politics and the rule of law—a balance that, at least for now, appears more precarious than ever.
