The New York Civil Liberties Union is crying foul after a Republican federal prosecutor stepped down for refusing to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Erik Siebert was acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, the erstwhile nominee of President Donald Trump. His office declined to bring charges against James, a longtime adversary of the president who successfully sued the Trump Organization for fraud.
The president publicly threatened Siebert’s job after his office found no substantial evidence that she knowingly broke the law in allegations of mortgage fraud concerning a property in Virginia.
Rather than wait to be fired, Siebert resigned according to an email he sent staff, as reported by the Associated Press.
“The President's brazen, corrupt interference makes a mockery of the rule of law, independent justice, and the cardinal principle that prosecutors must follow the facts and apply the law ‘without fear or favor,’” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman in a prepared statement after Siebert resigned.
Trump is not denying his role in Siebert’s departure, writing on Truth Social just after midnight on Saturday: “He didn’t quit, I fired him! Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican.”
James’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It's not the first time this year that Republican federal prosecutors have quit over Trump's interference in the politics of his home state.
Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and several of her colleagues in New York and Washington resigned in February after the Trump justice department quashed the criminal case against Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for Adams' help in the president's mass deportation program.
“Rather than be rewarded, Adams' advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case,” Sassoon wrote to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi at the time.
Conservative lawyer Maggie Cleary was tapped to replace Siebert on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
