Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb on Friday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for stripping power from the District of Columbia’s police department.
The Justice Department on Thursday appointed an “emergency police commissioner” to oversee the Metropolitan Police Department amid President Donald Trump’s temporary federal takeover of the nation’s capital to reduce crime, leading Schwalb to issue a letter contending Attorney General Pam Bondi’s DOJ had no legal basis to take such an action.
The D.C. attorney general followed the letter with a lawsuit Friday morning defending MPD chief Pamela Smith’s control of her department and seeking a temporary restraining order to block Bondi from granting Drug Enforcement Administration Terry Cole all the powers of the police chief in his new “emergency” role.
“Congress did not grant the President authority to displace the Chief of Police, assert operational control over MPD or rescind MPD policies – as the Administration seeks to do,” Schwalb’s office said in a press release announcing the lawsuit.
“By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk. The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home,” Schwalb said in a statement.
DC OFFICIALS DEFY BONDI ORDER APPOINTING ‘EMERGENCY POLICE COMMISSIONER’ IN FEDERAL TAKEOVER
Trump has argued that a federal takeover is necessary to make the capital safer.
“Washington, D.C., has one of the Highest Rates of Crime in the World, more than many of the most violent Third World Countries,” he said Wednesday. “Now, D.C. is back under Federal Control where it belongs. The White House is in charge. The Military and our Great Police will liberate this City, scrape away the filth, and make it safe, clean, habitable and beautiful once more!”
