Erik Seibert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned on Friday after the White House gave him the option to step down or be fired, Fox News has learned.
Siebert's perceived unwillingness to bring local charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of Trump's top political nemeses, was the main reason for his ouster, according to multiple sources.
Siebert, who had worked in the Eastern District of Virginia since 2010, had not yet been confirmed in the Senate and was on track to be.
NY AG'S OFFICE HIRES ATTORNEY THAT REPPED HUNTER BIDEN TO DEFEND LETITIA JAMES AGAINST FRAUD ACCUSATIONS
A housing and finance banker familiar with the investigation into James told Fox News the mortgage fraud case against her is viable and that she is under scrutiny for, in at least one instance, declaring an investment property she owns as her primary or secondary residence, which would give her better loan terms.
The Eastern District of Virginia is one of the most closely watched U.S. attorney's offices in the country, known in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks for successfully prosecuting Zacarias Moussaoui, who is serving life in prison for his role in planning the attacks.
The court district has since been a go-to office for high-profile national security and counterterrorism cases.
ABC News first reported on the Trump administration's plans to force Siebert out of his job.
Trump said later on Friday to reporters that he had withdrawn Siebert's nomination; however, the president attributed it to the support Siebert had garnered from the two Democratic senators of Virginia. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner had approved Siebert's nomination through the Senate's blue slip tradition. U.S. attorney nominees typically require blue-slip approval from home state senators as part of the confirmation process.
"When I saw that he got approved by those two men [Kaine and Warner], I said, 'Pull it because he can't be any good," Trump said, adding that he wanted Siebert "out."
U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin was given authority by Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the investigation of James, a role that requires him to work in coordination with the Eastern District of Virginia's U.S. attorney if he wants to bring charges in that jurisdiction.
Martin's one-time nomination to be the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., was withdrawn this year amid concerns from certain Republicans about his lack of experience and other controversies surrounding his time as the temporary head of the office.
In a letter to Martin last month, James' attorney Abbe Lowell said he did not think Martin was "conducting a serious investigation or review of 'mortgage fraud,' and that, despite the lack of evidence or law, you will take whatever actions you have been directed to take to make good on President Trump's and Attorney General Bondi's calls for revenge for that reason alone."
Fox News reached out to James' attorney for comment. The White House, DOJ and Siebert declined to comment.
