President Donald Trump in a social media post Saturday ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and chided her for not going after his other perceived enemies quickly enough.
“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leditia??? They’re guilty as hell but nothing is going to be done,’” Trump said of James, former FBI Director James Comey and California Sen. Adam Schiff (D).
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump added. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
The post is one of Trump’s clearest directives yet to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute his enemies as part of his sprawling retribution campaign against political opponents and public officials who attempt to hold him accountable.
Trump made the post roughly a day after Erik Siebert, his pick for interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was forced out of his position for failing to indict James over mortgage fraud allegations.
The Eastern District of Virginia opened an investigation into James after she was accused of committing mortgage fraud when she purchased a home in Virginia in 2023 based on documents obtained by Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Pulte has quickly become Trump’s favored attack dog by leveling mortgage fraud allegations against several of the president’s political opponents, including Schiff.
Though it’s investigated her for several months, the Eastern District of Virginia has so far been unable to find clear evidence that James knowingly committed mortgage fraud.
Despite raising concerns about the legal viability of bringing charges against James, Siebert faced pressure from Trump officials, including Pulte, to indict James anyway.
In addition to the James probe, the Eastern District of Virginia is also investigating Comey over claims that he lied under oath while testifying before Congress.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to seek retribution against James, who won a multi-million dollar judgment against the Trump Organization, Comey, who has become a prominent Trump critic, and Schiff, who served as the lead prosecutor during Trump’s first impeachment trial.
Siebert resigned from his position shortly after Trump told reporters he wanted him removed because Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats from Virginia, recommended Siebert for the U.S. attorney position permanently.
In his post Saturday, however, Trump said he fired Siebert and appeared to blame Bondi, who did not support Siebert’s removal, for his nomination as interim U.S. attorney.
“We almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job,” Trump said of Siebert.
“He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case,” Trump said, referring to the Eastern District of Virginia’s investigation into James. “No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so.”
In a follow-up post, Trump said he would be nominating Lindsey Halligan, another one of his former personal attorneys who has led his attempted ideological purge on the Smithsonian Institution, to replace Siebert.
“She will be Fair, Smart, and will provide, desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!” Trump claimed.
Mary Cleary, a conservative lawyer who was accused of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said in an email to staff Saturday that she had been named acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
U.S. attorneys have until recently been seen as independent law enforcement agents. When several U.S. attorneys were fired by the White House during the George W. Bush administration, in part for a failure to prosecute voter fraud cases, the scandal led to a congressional investigation and ultimately the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Trump’s overt attempt to influence the DOJ’s investigations and actions has also eroded the department’s longstanding tradition of independence and apolitical law enforcement.
