{"id":2489687,"date":"2025-09-22T16:49:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-says-trump-wants-accountability-for-letitia-james\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T16:50:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:50:01","slug":"white-house-says-trump-wants-accountability-for-letitia-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-says-trump-wants-accountability-for-letitia-james\/","title":{"rendered":"White House says Trump wants &#8216;accountability&#8217; for Letitia James"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhite-house-says-trump-wants-accountability-for-letitia-james%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2489687&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The White House, through press secretary Karoline Leavitt, stated that former President Donald Trump is seeking &#8220;accountability&#8221; rather than persecution in relation to the recent ouster of acting U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert in the Eastern District of Virginia. Siebert left his position amid pressure from the Trump administration concerning an inquiry into new York attorney general Letitia James, a political opponent of trump, who is accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-trump-aide-paul-manafort-cant-be-prosecuted-in-new-york-following-pardon-court-rules\/\" title=\"Ex-... Aide Paul Manafort Can\u2019t Be Prosecuted in New York Following Pardon, Court Rules\">mortgage fraud<\/a>. Despite a lengthy investigation, doubts about prosecuting James had been expressed, and no charges have been filed yet.<\/p>\n<p>Leavitt emphasized that Trump aims to restore the Department of Justice&#8217;s integrity by holding &#8220;corrupt fraudsters&#8221; accountable and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-beauty-guru-to-launch-make-makeup-great-again-line\/\" title=\"Conservative Beauty Guru To Launch \u2018Make Makeup Great Again\u2019 Line\">denied claims<\/a> that the DOJ is being weaponized by Trump.Trump announced via social media that he dismissed Siebert and intends to nominate Lindsey Halligan,a longtime ally and attorney who defended him during the FBI&#8217;s investigation into classified documents,as the new U.S. Attorney.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute follows previous legal battles, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-nominee-jessica-clarke-muffs-john-kennedys-basic-question-during-hearing-you-want-to-take-another-crack-at-that\/\" title=\"Biden Nominee Jessica Clarke Muffs John Kennedy\u2019s \u2018Basic\u2019 Question During Hearing: \u2018You Want To Take Another Crack At That?\u2019\">civil fraud case<\/a> where James won a ruling against Trump, though a large penalty was overturned on appeal. The White House criticized James for abusing her office and politicizing her prosecutorial role,asserting that she pursued charges against Trump politically without sufficient evidence. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">White House says Trump wants &lsquo;accountability&rsquo; for Letitia James after ouster of Virginia prosecutor<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2237210\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">White House<\/a> press secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/karoline-leavitt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Karoline Leavitt<\/a> denied on Monday that President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> is seeking to persecute his political opponents, saying he wants &ldquo;accountability for these corrupt fraudsters who abuse their power.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>During the press briefing, Leavitt was pressed on the ouster of acting U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia Erik S. Siebert, who <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/justice-department-letitia-james-siebert-trump-9ec1a96c05fa77d8acc558bd803622a2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left<\/a> his post on Friday amid pressure from the Trump administration on the investigation into allegations that New York Attorney General Letitia James engaged in mortgage fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Siebert&rsquo;s exit comes after the attorney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-administration-threatens-fire-us-prosecutor-overseeing-letitia-james-case-2025-09-19\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> expressed doubts about bringing a mortgage fraud indictment against James despite a monthslong investigation. When asked on Monday if Trump was seeking &ldquo;retribution,&rdquo; Leavitt said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s accountability.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3818917\/supreme-court-to-hear-ftc-firing-lawsuit-challenge-humphreys-executor\/\">Supreme Court to hear FTC firing lawsuit teeing up challenge to 90-year-old precedent<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3818826\/utah-valley-university-review-campus-security-charlie-kirk-memorial\/\">Utah Valley University to review campus security and create memorial after Kirk shooting<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3818941\/france-recognizes-palestinian-state-united-nations\/\">France officially recognizes Palestinian state in opening of UN General Assembly<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;The president is fulfilling his promise to restore a Department of Justice that demands accountability, and it is not weaponizing the Department of Justice to demand accountability for those who weaponize the Department of Justice, and nobody knows what that looks like more than President Trump,&rdquo; Leavitt said.<\/p>\n<p>She continued, &ldquo;We are not going to tolerate gaslighting from anyone in the media or from anyone on the other side who is trying to say that it&rsquo;s the president who is weaponizing the DOJ.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sept. 20 that he &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115234681538876098\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fired<\/a>&rdquo; Siebert after learning Virginia&rsquo;s two Democratic senators backed his nomination. The day before, he told reporters in the Oval Office that he wanted Siebert &ldquo;out.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>James, a political foe of Trump&rsquo;s, won a civil fraud case against him in 2024, in which a hefty penalty of nearly half a billion dollars was imposed. However, an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >appeals court threw<\/a> out that penalty last month while upholding the ruling that Trump engaged in fraud.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration accused James of falsifying records to receive better mortgage rates by claiming a property she owns in Virginia as her &ldquo;principal residence.&rdquo; James has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>However, the investigation against James has yet to result in charges, with two senior federal law enforcement officials telling <a href=\"http:\/\/nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/federal-probe-trump-foe-letitia-james-hits-standstill-law-enforcement-rcna232047\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NBC News<\/a> that there are concerns they do not have enough evidence to secure a conviction.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Letitia James completely abused her oath of office,&rdquo; Leavitt told reporters Monday. &ldquo;Letitia James was actively and openly engaged in lawfare. You talk about weaponizing the Department of Justice. What was Letitia James&rsquo;s campaign slogan? It was &lsquo;prosecute Donald Trump.&rsquo; She was saying she was going to prosecute Donald Trump before she even knew if Donald Trump committed a crime, which, of course, we did not.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s &mdash; those are not the words of a serious prosecutor,&rdquo; Leavitt continued. &ldquo;Those are the words of a corrupt politician who is abusing their power.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3815468\/white-house-releases-details-deal-tiktok-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WHITE HOUSE RELEASES DETAILS ON DEAL TO SAVE TIKTOK IN US<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In another post on Truth Social on Sept. 20, Trump announced that he would nominate senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan, who has worked with Trump for several years, including as one of his attorneys during the FBI&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-conducts-search-of-mike-pences-indiana-home-in-classified-documents-investigation\/\" title=\"FBI Conducts Search of Mike Pence&#039;s Indiana Home in Classified Documents ...\">classified documents investigation<\/a> against him, to serve as the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>Trump wrote, &ldquo;Lindsey is a tough, smart, and loyal attorney, who has worked with me for a long time, including in the winning fight against the Weaponization of our Justice System by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats, which she witnessed firsthand when she stood up for my rights during the Unconstitutional and UnAmerican raid on my home, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White House: Trump seeks &#8216;accountability&#8217; for Letitia James<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2912,"featured_media":2489688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25265664806908.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[8049,32506,3634,32127],"class_list":["post-2489687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-accountability","tag-letitia-james","tag-trump","tag-white-house"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25265664806908.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2489687"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2489691,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489687\/revisions\/2489691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2489688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2489687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2489687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2489687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}