WASHINGTON: A federal prosecutor resigned Friday after reportedly facing pressure over investigations into two of Donald Trump’s political foes and hours after the US president called for his exit.
Erik Siebert, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told staff of his resignations via an email, the New York Times and other US media outlets reported.
The move came just hours after Trump told reporters in the Oval Office “I want him out” in response to a question about firing him.
Siebert had been under pressure to prosecute two of Trump’s political adversaries, former FBI director James Comey — whom Trump fired in 2017 — and New York Attorney General Leticia James, the Times reported, saying that some officials in the administration had argued for him to keep his position.
The federal prosecutor had recently told Justice Department leadership he was declining to prosecute Comey over allegations he lied to Congress, and that there was insufficient evidence to charge James with mortgage fraud, officials familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.
Former FBI chief Comey was fired while leading a probe into whether any members of the Trump campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 presidential vote, and has been a vocal critic of the Republican president.
James, as New York’s state prosecutor, brought a $464 million case against Trump, alleging he and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.
She, like several other Democratic officials, has been accused by a close Trump ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, of falsifying documents on mortgage applications.
Asked about the case against James on Friday, Trump said: “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”
Siebert, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute and a former Washington police officer, led a team of approximately 300 prosecutors in a jurisdiction that often handles major cases related to national security.
US prosecutor resigns after pressure to charge Trump foes
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US prosecutor resigns after pressure to charge Trump foes
- Erik Siebert, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, had been under pressure to prosecute two of Trump’s political adversaries, former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Leticia James
Philippines struggles to evacuate nationals from Middle East as attacks escalate across region
- Over 1,400 Philippine nationals in Middle East have requested for repatriation
- Filipinos are told to shelter in place, follow host government’s advice on situation
MANILA: The Philippines is in talks to evacuate its nationals from across the Middle East, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday, as an increasing number of Filipinos are seeking to leave amid growing destruction from US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterstrikes against US bases in Gulf countries.
More than 2.4 million Filipinos live and work in the Middle East, where tensions have been high since Saturday, after coordinated US-Israel strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian officials.
Tehran responded by targeting US military bases in Gulf countries, and violence has been widening across the region.
Evacuating Philippine nationals across the region is not yet possible, Marcos said, as countries closed their airspace, leading to airport shutdowns and the cancellation of thousands of flights throughout the Middle East.
“For now, we are depending on the advice that will be given to us by the local authorities in the place where our nationals — where our people — are,” Marcos told reporters in Manila on Tuesday.
The Philippine government has received requests for repatriation from more than 1,400 Filipino nationals in various Middle Eastern countries, including 872 from the UAE and almost 300 from Israel. Similar requests have also been made by Filipinos in Iran, Bahrain and Jordan.
“Right now, the most dangerous area for our people right now would be Israel as attacks there are continuous,” Marcos said.
“The problem now is that no planes are flying and airports are being hit. That’s why the situation is very fluid, our assessment is that it may be too dangerous to mount flights.
“Even if we could charter an aircraft, we cannot do anything because number one, the airports are closed. They are all no-fly zones.”
As the Philippine government prepares for multiple scenarios, officials have secured buses and other vehicles for possible evacuation by land.
Filipinos in “danger areas” have been moved to a safer place, Marcos said, citing the targeting of Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery by Iranian drones on Monday morning.
“But essentially our advice to them is shelter in place and follow the host government’s advice … For now it’s extremely difficult to enter or exit the region because the only aircraft flying are fighter jets and drones, and missiles.
“That’s why it is not a place that you would want to put in a civilian aircraft to take out our nationals,” he said.
“But again, as I said, the situation is changing by the minute, by the hour. We just have to be in very good and close contact with the local authorities.”
