In a dramatic turn of events that has reignited debate about the politicization of the U.S. Justice Department, Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned on Friday, September 19, 2025. His departure followed months of mounting pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump to pursue criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, despite investigators finding no compelling evidence of fraud. The move leaves one of the country’s most prominent federal prosecutor’s offices without a confirmed leader and has sparked an outcry from legal experts and political observers alike.
Siebert, a former Washington police officer and a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, had led a team of roughly 300 prosecutors in a jurisdiction known for handling high-profile national security and criminal cases. He announced his resignation in an internal email to colleagues, which was later obtained by multiple media outlets including ABC News and The Associated Press. In the message, Siebert praised his staff as “the finest and most exceptional of DOJ employees,” but notably made no mention of the political storm swirling around his exit.
The controversy centers on a months-long investigation launched in April 2025 after a referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte. Pulte, a close Trump ally, alleged that Letitia James had falsified mortgage documents concerning both her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home. According to records cited by NPR and the New York Times, James was listed as a co-borrower on a property her niece was buying in 2023. The referral suggested that James may have attempted to avoid higher interest rates typically applied to second homes by misrepresenting her residency status.
Prosecutors spent five months on the probe, interviewing 15 witnesses and combing through mortgage paperwork and correspondence. Ultimately, as reported by ABC News and the Washington Post, they found no clear evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, James’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, provided documentation demonstrating that while James signed a power-of-attorney form that mistakenly stated the property would be her primary residence, she had also sent an email to her mortgage agent explicitly stating the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.”
Despite these findings, President Trump remained unsatisfied. On the day of Siebert’s resignation, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.” He added that he wanted Siebert “out” of the role, citing his displeasure that Siebert had been supported by Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, during his nomination. “When I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don’t really want him,” Trump remarked, according to ABC News.
Insiders familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that Trump administration officials had been aggressively pushing for charges against James, viewing her as a political adversary. James, after all, had led the high-profile civil fraud case in New York that resulted in a $464 million penalty against Trump and his company for unlawfully inflating property values to secure favorable loans and insurance terms. While that financial penalty was later overturned on appeal, the court upheld findings that Trump had engaged in fraud.
The pressure campaign extended beyond just Letitia James. According to the New York Times, Siebert had also been urged to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, another frequent Trump critic, over allegations of lying to Congress. Siebert declined to bring charges in both cases, citing insufficient evidence. This principled stand ultimately cost him his position. As one official told the Washington Post, Siebert had recently informed Justice Department leadership that he was declining to prosecute Comey and that there was no case against James.
The fallout from Siebert’s resignation has been swift and fierce. Abbe Lowell, representing James, condemned the move as blatant political 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,” Lowell stated. He also wrote to Justice Department officials, “The Justice Department has strict policies against using investigations and prosecutorial power for achieving political ends. This is even more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the other party.”
Legal scholars and former Justice Department officials have echoed these concerns, warning that the administration’s actions represent a further erosion of norms meant to insulate federal prosecutors from White House influence. The Eastern District of Virginia, often considered one of the Justice Department’s elite prosecution offices, has a storied history of handling complex national security and public corruption cases. Its independence, many argue, is crucial to the integrity of the American justice system.
Adding to the uncertainty, Siebert’s top deputy, Maya Song, also announced she would step down from her role as first assistant U.S. attorney and return to work as a line prosecutor. The Justice Department has not commented on who will take over leadership of the office, and the administration’s next move remains unclear.
The Justice Department’s investigation into Letitia James was coordinated in part by Ed Martin, head of the department’s Weaponization Working Group. Martin reportedly sent James a letter urging her to resign “as an act of good faith” after initiating the mortgage fraud probe. The episode took on an almost surreal quality when Martin was seen outside James’s Brooklyn townhouse, telling a neighbor, “I’m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It’s an important house,” as reported by the New York Post.
For her part, James has vigorously denied all allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge. The episode is just the latest in a series of clashes between Trump and James, whose office has pursued several investigations into Trump’s business dealings. The Justice Department, meanwhile, continues to face criticism from both sides of the political spectrum—some accusing it of being weaponized for partisan purposes, others insisting it is under attack for upholding the rule of law.
As the dust settles, the resignation of Erik Siebert stands as a stark reminder of the delicate balance between law and politics in America’s justice system. With the Eastern District of Virginia now leaderless and the nation watching closely, the episode has left many wondering just how far the boundaries of prosecutorial independence can be stretched before they snap.
