Trump fires prosecutor Elizabeth Yusi!
Washington, Oct 17 (EFE).-
The Trump administration on Friday dismissed federal prosecutor Elizabeth Yusi, who had resisted public calls from President Donald Trump to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Yusi concluded there was insufficient evidence to justify an indictment, according to multiple reports.
Her deputy, Kristin G. Bird, was also reportedly removed.
Yusi led major criminal prosecutions in the Eastern District of Virginia. Officials say she told colleagues she found no probable cause for a mortgage fraud case against James, despite mounting political pressure.
On Oct. 9, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements related to a 2020 property transaction in Norfolk, Virginia.
James issued a forceful statement following the indictments and Yusi’s removal, calling the firings part of a “continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.” She accused Trump of purging prosecutors who would not carry out his whims and replacing them with loyalists.
Legal commentators and watchdogs have flagged the development as part of a broader erosion of prosecutorial independence under the Trump administration. EFE re/lds
