A Phil Hall Op-Ed: There is absolutely nothing in Erik Siebert’s background to suggest he has a penchant for chicanery and dishonesty. A graduate of the prestigious Virginia Military Institute, he served as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, for four years before earning a law degree from the University of Richmond Law School in 2009. He clerked for Judge Henry E. Hudson on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), and in 2010 he became an Assistant US Attorney for the EDVA. He was later promoted to Deputy Criminal Supervisor for the Richmond Division and has served as Interim US Attorney for the EDVA since January.
Siebert received numerous awards related to his prosecutions and, by all accounts, was widely respected within his field and his state. He never sought the media spotlight and made a very rare public-facing appearance during at a press conference in March announcing the arrests of MS-13 gang leaders.
President Trump nominated him to fill the vacant US Attorney for the EDVA position in May, and he would have been confirmed earlier this month had it not been for the blocking of Trump nominees by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). On Friday, however, the president took it upon himself to begin a smear campaign against his candidate because Siebert dared to tell the truth.
Press reports percolated last week that Siebert’s five-month investigation into allegations of mortgage fraud on a Virginia residence owned by New York Attorney General Letitia James was not producing clear evidence that could be used to build a court case. This is not to say that James was wholly absolved, but it meant that Siebert concluded that his office could not successfully bring the case to trial based on the evidence they uncovered.
But this wasn’t the conclusion that President Trump wanted to hear. Back in April, Trump was delighted when James became the surprise subject of a mortgage fraud criminal referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) by Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. And let’s be honest, in view of the Trump-James history no one could seriously believe the discovery of alleged fraud in James’ loan paperwork from years earlier came from a serendipitous tip provided a good-deed-doing person with no connection to the Executive Branch.
According to media reports, Trump put extraordinary pressure on the DOJ to produce an indictment against James while Pulte moved far beyond the authority of his regulatory office to directly pressure Siebert’s office to bring charges against James. Trump confirmed those reports in a Friday press conference when asked about Siebert by bluntly declaring, “I want him out.”
Siebert was faced with the impossible choice of moving ahead with a prosecution that he knew would fail in court or being forced from his job either by dismissal or resignation. He chose the latter course and resigned on Friday night. To steal a line from Lilliam Hellman, he would not cut his conscience to fit this year’s fashion.
Almost immediately, the Trump smear campaign against Siebert began. Roughly five hours after his resignation, Trump took to social media at 12:14 in the morning to rewrite history, declaring, “Today I withdrew the Nomination of Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, when I was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia. He didn’t quit, I fired him! Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT.”
No, Trump did not fire Siebert – you cannot fire a person who walked away from a job five hours earlier. And these remarks gave the patently false impression that Siebert is a political ally of Virginia’s Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner – all they did was voice their bipartisan support for his nomination, and that occurred four months earlier. Trump was the one who nominated Siebert, not Kaine and Warner.
Trump went further with a bizarre open message to Attorney General Pam Biondi that smeared Siebert again and laid bare that his pursuit of justice is taking on Ahab-worthy obsessions. His Truth Social message stated, “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’ Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.”
Considering that Trump was the victim of a blatantly partisan DOJ under President Biden and his Attorney General Merrick Garland, why in the world would he want a continuation of such destructive shenanigans? And why would he state as much online, unapologetically confirming that he is out for retribution and not justice? As for the “many lawyers and legal pundits” who feel James could be convicted, they must be the ultimate silent majority since none of them came forward to echo that belief.
In case you’re wondering about Trump’s Comey reference, Siebert’s office is also involved in a separate criminal investigation of former FBI Director James Comey’s role in the Russiagate hoax. As with the James case, Siebert determined the evidence was too weak for his office use as the foundation of a trial.
Trump named Lindsey Halligan, who has been part of his legal team since 2022, to replace Siebert; she was sworn in today at an interim basis. Halligan has no experience as a prosecutor, but one can easily assume she will be more compliant in serving the White House’s whims.
Strangely, very few gung-ho Trump allies are cheering this news online. Trump political adviser Roger Stone and Hans Machnke, author of “Swiftboating America: Exposing the Russiagate Fraud,” took to X to complain about the allegedly slanted media coverage of the Siebert affair, but they avoidied badmouthing Siebert. A few characters on X with minimal followings made some snide remarks about Siebert, but they’re the type of people who make snide remarks about anyone Trump insults.
What Trump never mentioned – although it turned up in multiple media reports – was that Siebert’s ouster was instigated by Pulte, who has taken on a level of manipulative power that makes Rasputin look like a McKinsey consultant. Pulte made no public comment on Siebert’s exit, which is strange since he has not previously shown any reticence when it comes to attacking anyone that he feels is a Trump enemy. But considering the vituperative and dishonest messaging we’ve received from Pulte over the last few months, perhaps we should be grateful for having Pulte temporarily shut his big mouth.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
Photo courtesy of C-Span
