One of Washington’s top correspondents has called out Donald Trump for using the federal government to silence critics and seek revenge on his enemies.
The comments came after ABC News reported that the president was set to fire a leading U.S. Attorney for failing to find incriminating evidence of mortgage fraud against one of Trump’s biggest adversaries: New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Outlining the story from the grounds of the White House on Friday morning, ABC’s Jonathan Karl described the move as “a major escalation of the president’s effort to get retribution against his political rivals.”
“President Trump has made it perfectly clear—he would like to use the power of the federal government to silence his critics,” he later wrote on X.
Karl is one of Washington’s most seasoned political correspondents and the author of several books documenting the Trump years.
President Trump has made it perfectly clear — he would like to use the power of the federal government to silence his critics. https://t.co/bk3KfUf5vh
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) September 19, 2025
But he came under fire from the president earlier this week while asking questions at the White House about Attorney General Pam Bondi’s threat to prosecute people for hate speech, something that is protected under the First Amendment.
“She’d probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly,” Trump fired back. “It’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart.”
Trump’s comments were the latest in a string of threats he has made against the press this week.
Late on Monday, the president filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times and some of its most prominent reporters for articles and a book that made the case that he built his business fortune, in part, through fraud.
On Tuesday, he lashed out at Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist John Lyons for asking him if it was “appropriate” for a president to be enriching himself while in office.
And on Wednesday, TV host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended after Trump’s communications regulator Brendan Carr complained about remarks the comedian had made.
Firing U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert because he failed to find evidence of mortgage fraud against James would be another extraordinary step by the administration.
Siebert is the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, which reportedly handles a bulk of the country’s espionage and terrorism cases.
His office has spent months trying to find evidence against James, who successfully sued Trump and his family company for civil fraud last year.
The administration has now accused James of declaring a second home in Virginia as her primary residence to get more favorable loan terms.
She has denied wrongdoing, and her lawyer, Abbe Lowell has slammed the investigation as an act of “improper political retaliation … publicly instigated and endorsed by President Trump.”
According to ABC News, investigators found that James only listed the home as a primary residence on a limited power of attorney form that allowed her niece—who was her co-purchaser—to sign documents on her behalf.
The loan officers who approved the mortgage never considered the document, sources told the outlet, but the Trump administration nevertheless demanded Siebert bring criminal charges against her.
After he refused, officials told him that Trump plans to fire him, potentially as early as Friday.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the U.S. Attorney for comment.
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