By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Trump administration officials have threatened to fire a top U.S. prosecutor who is overseeing a fraud investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, a high-profile opponent of President Donald Trump, but who has yet to pursue charges and has expressed doubts about the case, two people familiar with the matter said.
Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was still in his office as of late Friday afternoon, however, and it was unclear how the situation would be resolved.
Siebert’s office has also been involved in a separate criminal investigation involving former FBI Director James Comey related to the agency’s past probes of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Siebert has expressed a view that the evidence in both cases was weak and that it would be difficult to bring an indictment against them, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss non-public investigations and personnel issues.
The threats to fire Siebert were first reported by ABC News.
Trump has attempted to purge the Justice Department of officials viewed as disloyal, as he leverages U.S. government agencies to target political rivals.
James is one of at least three public officials facing mortgage fraud investigations, along with U.S. Senator Adam Schiff of California and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whom Trump has tried to fire. All three have denied wrongdoing.
Trump has repeatedly complained about James, who pursued a civil fraud case against him that resulted in a half-billion-dollar penalty. A New York judge in the case found that Trump and his family business fraudulently inflated the value of his assets, although a New York appeals court last month threw that penalty out while preserving the fraud case against him.
The investigation into James was sparked by Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte, who alleged that James falsely described her Norfolk, Virginia, home as a primary residence in order to secure a more favorable interest rate on a home mortgage loan. Pulte also said James may have inaccurately described her Brooklyn home.
Legal experts and a person familiar with the Justice Department’s thinking on the case have said the evidence was weak and unlikely to lead to a criminal charge.
Pulte declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
The probe is also being handled by Justice Department official Ed Martin, a staunch Trump ally who is involved in the mortgage fraud probes targeting Cook and Schiff.
After the investigation into James was under way, Martin took the unusual step of posing for a photograph outside James’ Brooklyn home clad in a brown trench coat. The photo was published in the New York Post and he told the newspaper his job was to “stick the landing.” Justice Department rules governing prosecutorial conduct forbid such behavior.
James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, has repeatedly denied that she did anything wrong and has accused Martin of seeking retribution against her because of the civil case she brought against Trump.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Edmund Klamann)
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