""I want him out," President Donald Trump declared on Friday, referring to Erik Siebert, the career prosecutor he had tapped less than five months earlier to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Siebert, who had been in the role in an acting capacity since January and whose nomination was pending on the Senate floor, complied in short order."
"His resignation was not enough for Trump, who took to his social-media platform Truth Social just after midnight to make his point: "He didn't quit, I fired him!" Trump insisted he had acted when he was informed that Siebert had received the "UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia." He was referring to Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who, along with the state's Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, had recommended Siebert for the post."
President Trump demanded the removal of U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert and publicly insisted Siebert was fired after receiving bipartisan support. Siebert had been acting U.S. Attorney and had resigned after the demand. The conflict centered on Siebert's reported refusal to pursue criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey. The episode reflects a pattern of pressure to use prosecutorial power against political rivals and signals a White House unwilling to be constrained by traditional legal niceties. The administration has increasingly used aggressive and sometimes unauthorized tactics to achieve policy aims.
Read at The New Yorker
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