Trump administration officials have threatened to fire a top U.S. prosecutor who is overseeing a fraud investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, a high-profile opponent of President Donald Trump, but who has yet to pursue charges and has expressed doubts about the case, two people familiar with the matter said.
Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was still in his office as of late Friday afternoon, however, and it was unclear how the situation would be resolved. Siebert's office has also been involved in a separate criminal investigation involving former FBI Director James Comey related to the agency's past probes of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Siebert has expressed a view that the evidence in both cases was weak and that it would be difficult to bring an indictment against them, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss non-public investigations and personnel issues.
The threats to fire Siebert were first reported by ABC News.
Trump has attempted to purge the Justice Department of officials viewed as disloyal, effectively leveraging U.S. government agencies to target political rivals. James is one of at least three public officials facing mortgage fraud investigations, along with U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whom Trump has tried to fire. All three have denied wrongdoing.
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