#erik siebert

(CNN) — US Attorney Erik Siebert told his staff Friday he will be stepping down, according to a person familiar with the matter, after facing intense pressure from President Donald Trump to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud.

Sam Levine at The Guardian:

A career federal prosecutor in Virginia has told colleagues she does not believe there is probable cause to file criminal mortgage fraud charges against New York attorney general Letitia James, according to a person familiar with the matter. The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, oversees major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia and plans to soon present her conclusion to Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally, who was installed as the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia last month. Yusi’s thinking was first reported by MSNBC on Monday. The justice department declined to comment. The US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia did not return a request for comment.

The case sets up another high-profile confrontation between the justice department and Trump, who has fired attorneys who have refused to punish his enemies. Halligan, who has no prosecutorial experience, was put in the role at the urging of Trump after her predecessor concluded there wasn’t probable cause to file criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director. Halligan personally presented the case against Comey to a grand jury after she was appointed and secured a two-count indictment. Trump has openly asked Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, to prosecute James, who led a civil fraud case against the president that led to a $500m fine, which was recently overturned by a New York state appellate court. [...]

Multiple prosecutors in the eastern district of Virginia have either been fired or resigned in recent weeks as Trump has increased pressure on the office to bring charges against Comey and James. Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, resigned on 19 September after facing pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a top Siebert deputy, was also fired in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a top national security prosecutor in the office, was also fired last week after Julie Kelly, a pro-Trump media personality, falsely accused him of working on the Comey case.

Update

Jacob Knutson at Democracy Docket:

President Donald Trump in a social media post Saturday ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and chided her for not going after his other perceived enemies quickly enough. “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leditia??? They’re guilty as hell but nothing is going to be done,’” Trump said of James, former FBI Director James Comey and California Sen. Adam Schiff (D). “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump added. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

The post is one of Trump’s clearest directives yet to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute his enemies as part of his sprawling retribution campaign against political opponents and public officials who attempt to hold him accountable.  Trump made the post roughly a day after Erik Siebert, his pick for interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was forced out of his position for failing to indict James over mortgage fraud allegations. The Eastern District of Virginia opened an investigation into James after she was accused of committing mortgage fraud when she purchased a home in Virginia in 2023 based on documents obtained by Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

[...] In his post Saturday, however, Trump said he fired Siebert and appeared to blame Bondi, who did not support Siebert’s removal, for his nomination as interim U.S. attorney. “We almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job,” Trump said of Siebert. “He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case,” Trump said, referring to the Eastern District of Virginia’s investigation into James. “No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so.” In a follow-up post, Trump said he would be nominating Lindsey Halligan, another one of his former personal attorneys who has led his attempted ideological purge on the Smithsonian Institution, to replace Siebert.

Jacob Knutson at Democracy Docket:

Former FBI Director James Comey is expected to be criminally indicted in the coming days by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), MSNBC reports. If the indictment ultimately goes forward, it would mark a dangerous escalation of President Donald Trump’s efforts to wield the DOJ against his perceived political enemies. The charges are expected despite a lengthy investigation failing to find evidence of a crime, ABC News reported. The charges would reportedly come from the Eastern District of Virginia. Last week, Trump forced the U.S. attorney for that district, Erik Siebert, out of his post and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, one of Trump’s former personal attorneys who has no prosecutorial experience. Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi over the weekend to move more aggressively in prosecuting his political opponents, including Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). Trump has long vowed to get revenge on Comey for his handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The full extent of the charges against Comey is unclear. But MSNBC, citing three sources familiar with the matter, reported that the indictment could accuse the former FBI director of lying to Congress while testifying nearly five years ago about whether he ever leaked information to the media.

Since Comey last testified before Congress in late September 2020, the statute of limitations for the perjury charge is set to lapse Tuesday, Sept. 30. 

[...] CNN reported Wednesday that federal prosecutors have yet to reach a final decision on whether to bring perjury charges against Comey. In order to secure an indictment against Comey, prosecutors will first have to go before a grand jury, which could reject the request.

This is gross overreach on part of the Trump Regime’s DOJ, should this go through.

S.V. Dáte at HuffPost:

WASHINGTON – If former FBI Director James Comey wins a quick dismissal of the charges against him, it may be thanks to something apparently beyond President Donald Trump’s control: his own mouth. “He’s a dirty cop. He’s always been a dirty cop,” Trump told reporters Friday morning as he left the White House to go watch a golf tournament in Long Island. “Everybody knew it.” Those remarks came soon after he posted comments on his social media site disparaging Comey and gloating about the federal false statement and obstruction of justice charges against him that he himself had publicly insisted upon. “No one from the White House should be saying anything about Comey or the indictment,” said Ty Cobb, a lawyer in the White House Counsel’s office during Trump’s first term and once a federal prosecutor. “But there are no guardrails there in this administration, no adults.” Prosecutors, who represent the state, are supposed to refrain from commenting publicly about criminal cases and present their accusations and evidence in court. In this case, Trump’s numerous previous attacks on Comey, his many campaign vows to seek retribution against those who investigated or prosecuted him and his social media post demanding that Attorney General Pam Bondi charge Comey and others already laid the foundation that Comey was charged only because of pressure from Trump.

His statements after the indictment was announced Thursday evening only cement that impression, Cobb and other former prosecutors said, and could serve as the basis for a successful request to dismiss the case as “vindictive” prosecution.

[...] Also in Comey’s favor are the circumstances leading to Thursday’s indictment. Trump forced out the interim U.S. attorney for the district, Erik Siebert, after he reportedly declined to take the Comey case to a grand jury. Trump replaced him with a supporter, Lindsey Halligan, who has never been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, which may have run afoul of federal appointment rules and could invalidate the indictment, Kirschner said.

In January, Trump made Siebert the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia office. When the 120-day limit expired, Siebert was appointed by the federal judges in that district to remain in the position until the Senate could confirm him for the job permanently. Instead, Trump fired him and replaced him with Halligan, a former insurance lawyer with no criminal law experience. It is unclear, though, whether the law allows for a second, 120-day interim U.S. attorney.