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Federal prosecutor tasked with investigating Trump adversary Letitia James resigns under pressure

President Donald Trump told reporters Friday afternoon that he wanted acting U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert "out."

Erik Siebert, then-interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, at the FBI field office in Manassas, Va., on March 27.Rod Lamkey / AP file

Erik Siebert, then-interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, at the FBI field office in Manassas, Va., on March 27.Rod Lamkey / AP file

The federal prosecutor in charge of pursuing mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James resigned Friday after President Donald Trump said he no longer wanted him to serve in the position.

Erik S. Siebert, the acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, announced his resignation in an email to colleagues that was obtained by NBC News.

Trump on Friday unleashed an attack on Siebert, who was tasked with pursuing mortgage fraud charges against James, a longtime Trump foe.

“I want him out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he wanted Siebert to be fired.

The Justice Department declined to comment, and Siebert’s office and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump administration officials had been pressing Siebert to investigate potential mortgage fraud charges against James.

That investigation stalled over concerns from federal agents and prosecutors who felt they lacked the evidence to obtain a conviction if the case were to go to trial, two senior federal law enforcement officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

James has denied any wrongdoing.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump — who nominated Siebert earlier this year — lamented the Senate’s “blue slip” custom, which allowed Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia to recommend Siebert for the position.

He referred to Kaine and Warner as “two bad guys, bad senators, too, and they do a terrible job for the people of Virginia.”

In a joint statement Friday, the senators criticized Trump for “pushing out” Siebert, whom they referred to as an “ethical prosecutor who refused to bring criminal charges against Trump’s perceived enemies when the facts wouldn’t support it.”

“The Eastern District of Virginia is at the forefront of significant cases essential to our national security, and just like any court in America, should be focused on justice instead of a thin-skinned president’s vendettas,” they added.

A New York appeals court last month dismissed a $500 million civil fraud judgment stemming from a case brought by James’ office that had accused Trump and his companies of routinely inflating property values in financial statements.

In a social media post last month lauding the court’s decision, Trump referred to James as a “political hack” and a “Corrupt and Incompetent Attorney General who only brought this Case in order to hurt me politically.”

The investigation of James is not the first time mortgage fraud claims have been investigated by the Trump administration in connection with one of Trump’s perceived political foes.

Mortgage fraud claims against Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook have also been referred to the Justice Department by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, a Trump political appointee. Trump has cited those allegations as a justification for her firing and has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in. Cook has denied the mortgage allegations and declined to leave her position on the board.

Author: Ryan J. Reilly, Zoë Richards and Michael Kosnar

Source: NBC News

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