DC Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb speaks during a DC Mayoral and Council swearing-in ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Monday January 2, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Matt McClain | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit Friday challenging President Donald Trump‘s unprecedented takeover of the U.S. capital city’s police force.
“The Administration’s actions are brazenly unlawful,” Schwalb said in a statement after his suit was filed in U.S. District Court in D.C.
“They go well beyond the bounds of the President’s limited authority and instead seek a hostile takeover of MPD. They infringe on the District’s right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” he said.
Trump signed an executive order Monday commanding the district’s mayor to temporarily hand over the Metropolitan Police Department to the federal government, while pressuring Congress to let him keep that control for longer.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi attempted to tighten federal control over D.C. even further by ordering that the city’s police chief cede authority to U.S. Drug Enforcement administrator Terry Cole.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called Bondi’s order unlawful and told Police Chief Pamela Smith that she is “not legally obligated to follow it.”
The lawsuit names as defendants Trump, Bondi, the Department of Justice, Cole and the Drug Enforcement Administration itself, along with the U.S. Marshals Service and its director, Gadyaces Serralta.
Trump has also deployed about 800 National Guard members to D.C. this week as part of his efforts to address what he claims is out-of-control violent crime in the nation’s capital.
He has brushed off official statistics showing that numerous categories of unlawful activity in D.C., including violent crime, have dropped by double-digit percentages in the past year.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
