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Maddowblog-Trump forces out uncooperative U.S. attorney in Virginia, touching off new scandal [View all]
Last edited Mon Sep 22, 2025, 09:59 AM - Edit history (1)
Erik Siebert was pressured to bring retaliatory charges against the president’s political foes. When he said he couldn’t, Trump ousted him.
In case you missed it last night, Trump forced out a U.S. Attorney, not for being corrupt, but for *failing* to be corrupt.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-20T12:57:42.840Z
What transpired with Erik Siebert seems like the sort of thing one might expect to see in an impeachment resolution. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-forces-uncooperative-us-attorney-virginia-touching-new-scandal-rcna232515
Among the most scandalous developments of Donald Trump’s second term is the eagerness with which the president has politicized and weaponized federal law enforcement. Taking stock, Jack Goldsmith, a conservative Harvard Law School professor and a former assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, recently concluded that under this White House, “an atomic bomb dropped” on the Justice Department......
According to a person familiar with Siebert’s discussions, Siebert told colleagues late Friday that he plans to resign and that he expects his assistant Maya Song will be demoted from her supervisory role. NBC News later reported obtaining Siebert's resignation email.
To be sure, Trump and his team have outright fired other federal prosecutors: some because they worked for Democratic administrations, others because they worked on cases Republicans disapproved of. But the Siebert case is qualitatively different — and far more scandalous.
As NBC News reported this week, the White House was leaning heavily on Siebert’s office for a very specific reason: Trump hoped to get revenge against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a successful civil fraud case against the president’s family business.
This, in and of itself, was indefensible: When a White House pushes prosecutors to bring a criminal case against a perceived presidential foe, as part of a brazenly retaliatory move, it’s the sort of thing one might expect to see in an impeachment resolution......
At that point, Trump had a choice. The president could stand by Siebert, a former police officer who’s worked his way up through the ranks at the office over the past 15 years, and trust the prosecutor’s judgment; or the president could push him out for failing to bring weak, unjustified and politically motivated cases against innocent targets whom the president doesn’t like.
Trump, true to form, made the wrong choice.
While some presidents get rid of officials for being corrupt, this president forced out Siebert for not being corrupt. In the process, the Republican took a fresh swing at the Justice Department and the integrity of the rule of law.
According to a person familiar with Siebert’s discussions, Siebert told colleagues late Friday that he plans to resign and that he expects his assistant Maya Song will be demoted from her supervisory role. NBC News later reported obtaining Siebert's resignation email.
To be sure, Trump and his team have outright fired other federal prosecutors: some because they worked for Democratic administrations, others because they worked on cases Republicans disapproved of. But the Siebert case is qualitatively different — and far more scandalous.
As NBC News reported this week, the White House was leaning heavily on Siebert’s office for a very specific reason: Trump hoped to get revenge against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a successful civil fraud case against the president’s family business.
This, in and of itself, was indefensible: When a White House pushes prosecutors to bring a criminal case against a perceived presidential foe, as part of a brazenly retaliatory move, it’s the sort of thing one might expect to see in an impeachment resolution......
At that point, Trump had a choice. The president could stand by Siebert, a former police officer who’s worked his way up through the ranks at the office over the past 15 years, and trust the prosecutor’s judgment; or the president could push him out for failing to bring weak, unjustified and politically motivated cases against innocent targets whom the president doesn’t like.
Trump, true to form, made the wrong choice.
While some presidents get rid of officials for being corrupt, this president forced out Siebert for not being corrupt. In the process, the Republican took a fresh swing at the Justice Department and the integrity of the rule of law.
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