Washington (AP) – US lawyers under investigation by the firm Mortgage fraud allegations against New York State Attorney General Leticia James Those familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday amid a push by Trump administration officials to raise criminal charges against the president’s perceived enemy.
The move to replace Virginia’s well-known Eastern District career prosecutor Eric Siebert was explained by someone who was authorized to discuss the issue and spoke anonymously. It was unclear who said he was being taken away, what reason was given, and who said he might replace him.
A spokesperson for Seibert’s Office and the Department of Justice declined to comment Friday.
This development comes as Trump administration officials are actively pursuing allegations against James, arising from alleged inconsistencies in her Brooklyn townhouse and Virginia home. The Justice Department has spent months investigating and has not yet filed accusations. It is also not clear that the prosecutors have revealed some of the indictment evidence necessary to secure the charges.
As long as efforts to replace Siebert are designed to speed up criminal charges, the move is likely to deepen concern that the divisions that President Donald Trump is investigating other public figures he already considers as enemies are being weaponized by the White House, seeking prosecutors to be used for retaliation purposes.
James’ lawyers vehemently denied the allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.
ABC News first reported that Trump administration officials pressure prosecutors to raise charges and are preparing to banish Sheebert, who was nominated for top job by Trump after more than a decade of work in the Republican administration.
James has long been a particular source of anger towards Trump, but in part due to the civil lawsuit she filed against him and his company. Massive financial penalties. The penalty was dumped last month by the Court of Appeal. This narrowly supported the judge’s finding that Trump had been engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades.
This case employs a series of unorthodox turns. Last month it was revealed that Ed Martin was at the helm. Department of Justice Weaponization Working Group And we help coordinate the investigation letter He urges James to step down from the office “as a sincere act” after he begins an investigation into her mortgage fraud. He later appeared outside James’ Brooklyn townhouse in a “Columbo” style trench coat. A New York postwriter on the scene observed him telling his neighbors: “I’m just looking at a house, an interesting house. It’s an important house.”
James’ lawyer Abbe Lowell told Martin Ying letter James’s request for resignation was against the Department of Justice standards and norms of professional responsibility and legal ethics.
The Justice Department “has solid policy towards using investigations and prosecutors to achieve political objectives,” Lowell wrote. “This is more than ever when that demand was made to seek political revenge against the civil servants on the other side.”
A Columbia district police officer, Siebert joined the Eastern District of Virginia in 2010, the elite Department of Justice’s office of prosecutors with a history of sophisticated national security and criminal cases. He was appointed to Trump’s role as U.S. Attorney General this year, with the support of two state Democrats, Mark Warner and Tim Kane.
US lawyers are presidential appointees, but they are rarely fired. However, the Trump administration has repeatedly ignored norms and traditions intended to isolate Justice Department prosecutors from the political influence of the White House. Just as prosecutors and other supporters who worked on Jack Smith’s special advisor team, who investigated and charged Trump, were fired. Mohren Comeyhis father, former FBI director James Comey, ended his first term in Trump’s months, in an investigation into Russian election interference.
Martin’s investigation comes from a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi by Federal Housing and Finance Director William Plute in April, calling for James to consider investigating and testing, claiming that he “falsified bank documents and real estate records.”
Part, whose agency regulates mortgage investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cited “media reports” claiming James mislisted the Virginia home as a major residence, suggesting he might be trying to avoid the higher interest rates that often apply to the second home.
Records show that James was listed as a co-borrower in 2023 at the house that her nie had bought. Lowell said the records and correspondence easily disproves Pult’s allegations. James said he “erroneously stated the property as being Ms. James’ primary residence,” but James signed the form of a power of attorney, but she emailed the mortgage broker at the same time that “it is not my primary residence.”
Pulte also accused James of lying to real estate records about the number of Brooklyn Townhouse apartments he has owned since 2001.
A certificate of occupancy issued to a previous owner who has approved up to five units within the building where James lives and rented an apartment. Other city records show that the townhouse has four units, numbers listed by James in the building’s permit application and mortgage documents.
____ Associated Press Writer Michael R. Sissack from New York contributed to this report.
