WASHINGTON — A federal prosecutor in Virginia is resigning from his post after being told by Trump administration officials that he’d be removed for not bringing mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The decision to step down by Erik Siebert, who has been serving as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, follows a day of public speculation about his future in the post. Siebert, who was nominated by President Donald Trump for the job in May, started working at the U.S. Attorney’s office as a career prosecutor in Richmond in 2010.

Siebert had been asked by administration officials to prosecute James over allegations she committed mortgage fraud related to a home she owned in Virginia, said one of the people, both of whom asked not be identified discussing internal matters. Siebert’s office told the officials that it hadn’t found sufficient evidence to charge James, said the person.

James, who led a successful civil fraud prosecution against Trump, has denied wrongdoing.

ABC reported earlier on the administration’s move to oust Siebert and his decision to resign.

The Justice Department, Siebert’s and James’s offices declined to comment.

Earlier Friday, Trump said he wanted Siebert “out” when asked by a reporter.

“It looks to me like she’s very guilty of something, but I really don’t know,” Trump said of James.

The Justice Department’s probe into James stemmed from claims by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that she may have committed mortgage fraud based on the residence status she listed on applications.

James won a $454 million civil fraud case against Trump and his company in 2024 before he was elected. A New York appeals court struck down the financial penalty in August, but upheld the finding that Trump broke the law by inflating the value of his assets.

The Trump administration targeted several Democrats in an effort led by Justice Department official Ed Martin over the mortgage fraud allegations, including James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and Sen. Adam Schiff of California. All three have denied committing fraud.

Martin was appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the department’s so-called weaponization group. That was formed in response to an executive order by Trump titled “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”

The Justice Department has opened a separate investigation into James over the civil fraud case she won against Trump.

Trump said in August he was firing Cook over mortgage fraud allegations, prompting her to file a lawsuit. A federal judge in Washington issued a ruling allowing Cook to remain in her position for now. Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let him fire her while the case proceeds.

Schiff has been one of Trump’s chief antagonists dating back to his first administration. President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Schiff and others who served on a special House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

Siebert has spent his career climbing the ranks of the U.S. attorney’s office in Virginia’s Eastern District. The Trump administration named him interim U.S. attorney in January. His interim appointment expired in May, after which Trump nominated him to be confirmed by the Senate. Federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia unanimously installed him as U.S. attorney in May while he was awaiting Senate approval.

It’s possible that he’ll continue to work as a federal prosecutor in that office after being removed from the top job.

(Josh Wingrove, Erik Larson and Sara Forden contributed to this report.)

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.