By
Scott MacFarlane
Scott MacFarlane
Justice Correspondent
Scott MacFarlane is CBS News’ Justice correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting has resulted directly in the passage of five new laws.
Updated on: September 19, 2025 / 5:39 PM EDT
/ CBS News
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia are concerned that the acting U.S. attorney could be removed for failing to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, multiple sources say.
President Trump did not push back on those concerns, saying Friday, “Yeah, I want him out.”
The U.S. attorney for the district, Eric Siebert, has been serving as the acting top prosecutor since January and was nominated in May by President Trump for the post. But Siebert has not yet been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Just last week, the Senate moved to add a vote on Siebert to its calendar.
An all-staff meeting was held Friday, but no terminations were announced, according to sources.
The Justice Department hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
A defense attorney for James declined to comment.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, the president said he wants Siebert “out,” citing the support he got from Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia during the Senate confirmation process.
“When I saw that he got two senators, two gentlemen that are bad news, as far as I’m concerned, when I saw that he got approved by these two men, I said, ‘pull him,’ because he can’t be any good,” the president told reporters, referencing Kaine and Warner.
“Yeah, I want him out,” he added.
In April, a Trump ally referred James for federal criminal prosecution for alleged mortgage fraud related to a Virginia home and a New York property.
The same month, William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, wrote a letter obtained by CBS News New York to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleging that James had “in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.”
In response, James told NY1, “The allegations are baseless. The allegations are nothing more than a revenge tour.”
In 2022, James sued Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization, alleging that he and his family had engaged in a yearslong scheme to enrich themselves by inflating the values of a wide swath of properties, stretching across his international real estate empire.
She prevailed, and Mr. Trump was ordered to pay $355 million in restitution for what the judge deemed were “ill-gotten gains” from his inflated financial statements. That amount soared to more than $527 million, including interest, but earlier this year, the Appellate Division in New York canceled the fine. James has appealed that ruling.
The Eastern District of Virginia is one of the largest and most powerful federal prosecutor posts in America, with a uniquely large portfolio of cases, including terror probes and white collar cases, some involving international ties and corruption. The prosecutors have teams in Alexandria, Richmond and the Tidewater area of Virginia.
contributed to this report.
Scott MacFarlane is CBS News’ Justice correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting has resulted directly in the passage of five new laws.
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