D.C. Attorney General Sues to Stop Trump Admin’s Push to Crush Crime in the Capitol [WATCH]

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a federal lawsuit on Friday morning challenging the Trump administration’s decision to assume control of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

The legal action came just hours after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terry Cole had been appointed as “emergency police commissioner” of the MPD.

In a statement posted to X, Schwalb said, “We are suing to block the federal government takeover of DC police. By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”

We are suing to block the federal government takeover of DC police.

By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law.

This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.

— AG Brian Schwalb (@DCAttorneyGen) August 15, 2025

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The lawsuit contests the legality of the federal intervention and disputes the Trump administration’s assessment of public safety in the nation’s capital.

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Schwalb’s filing claims that the President’s public statements on crime in Washington, D.C., are “hyperbolic and inconsistent with the facts.”

According to Schwalb, “publicly available data from both federal and local sources demonstrate that violent crime in the District is trending significantly downward.”

The attorney general cited statistics released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on January 3, prior to the start of President Trump’s second term.

The DOJ’s statement at the time reported that “Total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35% from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years.”

These figures were based on data compiled by local police.

However, the local police data referenced in those statistics does not include all categories of violent crime under D.C. law.

Offenses such as aggravated assault and felony assault without the use of weapons — which are legally considered violent crimes in the District — were not factored into the totals cited in the DOJ’s release.

Federal crime data paints a different picture.

Statistics from the FBI indicate that violent offenses in D.C. decreased by 10% in 2024 compared to the previous year, a decline significantly smaller than the 35% cited by the DOJ.

Additionally, FBI figures show that the number of homicides in D.C. has remained above pre-pandemic (2020) levels every year except for 2021, when D.C. submitted incomplete data.

The appointment of Terry Cole as emergency police commissioner marks the first time the federal government has exercised this level of authority over the MPD in recent years.

Attorney General Bondi said Cole’s role is intended to provide immediate leadership and coordination in law enforcement operations in response to concerns about crime and public safety.

The case now moves to federal court, where a judge will consider the District’s request to block the takeover while the lawsuit proceeds.

No hearing date has yet been announced.

The outcome could have significant implications for the balance of authority between the federal government and the D.C. government over policing in the capital.