Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney who led the Eastern District of Virginia federal prosecutor’s office from its Alexandria headquarters, resigned Friday under pressure from the Trump administration amid its push to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Siebert confirmed his departure in an email to colleagues, reviewed by The Associated Press, in which he praised them as the “finest and most exceptional” of Justice Department employees but made no mention of the political turmoil that preceded his resignation.
The replacement of Siebert comes after his monthslong mortgage fraud investigation into James has not resulted in criminal charges, despite Trump administration officials aggressively pursuing allegations against the perceived adversary of the president who has successfully sued him for fraud.
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he wanted Siebert “out” and multiple people familiar with the matter later told the AP that Siebert had informed his colleagues of his plan to resign from the position.
The development affects one of the most prominent federal prosecution offices in the country, headquartered at the Justin W. Williams United States Attorney’s Building at 2100 Jamieson Avenue in Alexandria. The Eastern District has earned the nickname “rocket docket” for its speed and efficiency in processing cases — it has handled civil cases faster than any of the other 94 federal districts since 1997.
Siebert’s resignation caps a tumultuous year for the Eastern District of Virginia. His predecessor, Jessica D. Aber, died unexpectedly at her Alexandria home in March 2025, just two months after resigning from the position in January to allow Trump to select her successor. Aber, who was 43, had served as U.S. Attorney since 2021 after being nominated by President Biden. Alexandria Police found no evidence of foul play in her death.
Siebert was sworn in as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia on January 21, 2025 — just one day after Trump’s inauguration — following a distinguished 15-year career with the office. He began as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2010, handling cases involving violent crime, drug trafficking, firearms violations, fraud, child exploitation, immigration, and public corruption.
The Virginia Military Institute graduate and University of Richmond Law School alumnus has received numerous awards for his prosecutions, including the 2018 Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Case of the Year Award and the 2024 Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Award for “Outstanding Community Impact Investigation.”
Before joining the Justice Department, Siebert served as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to 2006, and clerked for Judge Henry E. Hudson on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2009 to 2010.
As U.S. Attorney, Siebert led approximately 300 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel across four divisions in Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News. The Eastern District of Virginia serves more than six million residents across Northern Virginia, Richmond, Hampton Roads, and surrounding communities. The Alexandria Division specifically covers the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford, as well as the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Falls Church.
It was not immediately clear Friday afternoon who would replace Siebert, who was nominated by Trump to the top job in the office this year with the backing of Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Siebert’s top deputy, Maya Song, is also leaving her position as first assistant U.S. attorney and will work as a line prosecutor, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The administration’s effort to oust him from the job represents a further erosion of norms meant to insulate the Justice Department from White House influence on prosecutorial decisions. The move is likely to deepen concerns that the department — already investigating other public figures Trump regards as foes — is being weaponized by a White House seeking to have its prosecutorial powers used for purposes of retribution.
Trump administration officials have been aggressively pursuing allegations against James arising from alleged paperwork discrepancies on her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home. The Justice Department has spent months conducting the investigation but has yet to bring charges, and there’s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence that could support bringing an indictment.
Asked about the issue at the White House Friday, Trump, without citing any evidence, said, “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.” Trump also said he was bothered that Siebert had been supported by the state’s two Democratic senators.
James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.
James has long been a particular source of outrage for Trump, in part because of a lawsuit she filed against him and his company that resulted in a massive financial penalty last year. That penalty was thrown out last month by an appeals court that narrowly upheld a judge’s finding that Trump had engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades.
The case has taken a series of unorthodox turns. It emerged last month that Ed Martin, who leads the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group and is helping coordinate the investigation, had sent a letter urging James to resign from office “as an act of good faith” after starting his mortgage fraud investigation of her. He later turned up outside James’ Brooklyn townhouse in a “Columbo”-esque trench coat. A New York Post writer at the scene observed him tell a neighbor: “I’m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It’s an important house.”
James’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told Martin in a letter that the request for James’ resignation defied Justice Department standards and codes of professional responsibility and legal ethics. The Justice Department “has firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends,” Lowell wrote. “This is ever more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the opposite party.”
The Eastern District of Virginia office, which traces its legacy to 1789 when John Marshall served as the first U.S. Attorney before becoming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, handles complex cases involving national security, public corruption, cybercrime, and civil rights. The office has separately been involved in investigating matters related to the years-old investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a longstanding grievance of the president. No charges have been announced as part of that work.
Although U.S. attorneys are presidential appointees, they are rarely fired. But the Trump administration has repeatedly disregarded norms and traditions meant to protect Justice Department prosecutors from White House political influence. Prosecutors and other support personnel who worked on the special counsel team of Jack Smith that investigated and prosecuted Trump have been fired, as was Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in New York whose father, former FBI Director James Comey, was terminated by Trump months into his first term amid the Russia election interference investigation.
Martin’s investigation stems from a letter Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi in April asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging she had “falsified bank documents and property records.” Pulte, whose agency regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cited “media reports” claiming James had falsely listed a Virginia home as her principal residence, and he suggested she may have been trying to avoid higher interest rates that often apply to second homes.
Records show James was listed as a co-borrower on a house her niece was buying in 2023. Lowell said records and correspondence easily disproved Pulte’s allegation. While James signed a power-of-attorney form that, Lowell said, “mistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James’ principal residence,” she sent an email to her mortgage loan broker around the same time that made clear the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.”
Justice Department spokespeople declined to comment Friday.
When Aber died in March, Siebert expressed profound grief in a statement, calling her “unmatched as a leader, mentor, and prosecutor” and noting that “EDVA loved her back.” He pledged the office would remain “committed to her life’s work, a commitment to seeking justice, as she would have wanted.”
This story is based on reporting by The Associated Press. Read the full AP story here. Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
