Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is launching an investigation into the removal of the U.S. attorney who resigned amid pressure to bring charges against Trump foes James Comey and Letitia James.
Raskin cast the inquiry as a precursor to charges “we all see coming” after Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, stepped down rather than bring what he saw as unsupported charges against the former FBI director and current New York Attorney General.
After Siebert’s exit, President Trump made a direct appeal to Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring such cases, with the indict of Comey arriving just days later.
Comey was indicted Thursday night on two charges in connection with testimony he gave before the Senate about the investigations into the 2016 election. He could face up to five years in prison on the counts — making a false statement and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
“President Trump is waging an unprecedented campaign of vengeance against his enemies. That campaign, including the charges against Ms. James, Mr. Comey, and others that we all see coming, is a scandalous and indefensible assault on equal and impartial justice in America,” Raskin wrote.
While Siebert resigned, Trump also called for him to be fired, saying he “want[s] him out.”
His letter asks for all documents and communications about Seibert’s removal, including any correspondence between the Justice Department and the White House.
It also asks for all Justice Department communications with Bill Pulte, a Trump ally who now leads the Federal Housing Finance Authority, which made the criminal referrals alleging mortgage fraud against James as well as two other Trump adversaries: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook.
The charges against Comey stems from whether he misled Congress during his 2020 testimony, where he was asked about whether he authorized any media leaks about the matter.
“Mr. Siebert also concluded that there was no basis to bring charges against Mr. Comey. Federal prosecutors investigated President Trump’s claims that Mr. Comey had lied under oath about authorizing leaks to the press and assessed whether he had improperly disclosed classified information,” Raskin wrote.
“As part of that investigation, Mr. Siebert subpoenaed and interviewed Daniel Richman, one of Mr. Comey’s close friends and advisors, about whether Mr. Comey had authorized Mr. Richman to leak memos to the press. Mr. Siebert ultimately was unable to identify any basis for bringing criminal charges against Mr. Comey.”
Raskin also alleged that there were problems with the James investigation, arguing that other documents she signed when seeking a mortgage indicate she did not intend to mislead the bank about whether she planned to use the Virginia home as a primary residence. As a New York official, James is required to have her primary residence in that state.
“Based on his investigation, Mr. Siebert concluded that there was no basis to bring charges against Ms. James. Criminal mortgage fraud requires ‘knowingly mak[ing] any false statement’ for ‘the purpose of influencing’ a mortgage decision. Mr. Siebert found significant evidence that Ms. James’s erroneous entry on one of several mortgage forms was simply an inadvertent mistake,” Raskin wrote.
“In particular, Ms. James had emailed a mortgage broker shortly before signing the disputed document, emphasizing that ‘[t]his property WILL NOT be my primary residence.’ On another loan form that asked, ‘Will you occupy the property as your primary residence?, Ms. James checked the box marked ‘NO.’ As Mr. Siebert evidently concluded, it is hard to see how Ms. James committed criminal mortgage fraud when she repeatedly made clear to her lenders that she did not intend to reside at the property,” Raskin added, citing reporting from The New Yorker.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
After Seibert’s removal, Trump appointed Lindsey Halligan, a White House staffer who practiced insurance law before she joined his criminal defense team in 2022. She has never tried a federal case.
“Her installation raises the urgent question of what promises she made to secure this position—and whether she has pledged to bring the very prosecutions that Mr. Siebert, after careful investigation, determined were legally baseless,” Raskin wrote.
