DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb slams Trump's federal takeover, breaking with police union

DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb spoke out against President Donald Trump's plan for crime in Washington, D.C., during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday.

"We as public officials need to do everything we can to drive crime down, and we have done that. Unfortunately, the president's characterizations of what's happening on the ground here in the District of Columbia is not consistent with the facts. We have seen meaningful, significant drops in crime since I was elected in 2023, when there was a crime - spiked crimes. Violent crimes have consistently gone down every year," Schwalb said. 

"We do not believe we need this takeover of MPD. Our Home Rule Act provides that, while we do have limited authority to govern ourselves, local affairs like local policing are entrusted to our mayor and our chief of police, who are doing the job." He added. 

Trump announced on Monday that he was deploying the National Guard to D.C. and said he would federalize the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington to respond to crime - placing it under the authority of Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

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"There are things the federal government could do to help us. We certainly have a problem with the fact that more than 20% of the judges on our superior court - that are required to be on the bench to handle criminal matters, juvenile matters, housing matters and other matters - are vacant. And that's something that the federal government, the President and the Congress could make sure we had some meaningful help right away in terms of the administration of justice in our city," Schwalb continued.

"I'm very concerned about the law of the country, the Home Rule Act and the D.C. Charter being complied with," he said. "This is an unprecedented step taken by the President of the United States. In more than 50 years of Home Rule in the District of Columbia, this provision of the Home Rule Charter has never been invoked by a president."

Mayor Muriel Bowser also reacted to Trump's announcement on Monday and called for D.C. statehood. Bowser also said Sunday during an MSNBC interview, "Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false."

"If people are concerned about the president being able to move the National Guard into our city, the time to do that would have been when the Congress had a bill that it could have given control of the D.C. National Guard to D.C.," she told reporters on Monday, according to Politico. "So there are things that, when a city is not a state, and not fully autonomous, and doesn't have senators, that the federal government can do."

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The chair of the Washington D.C. police union, Gregg Pemberton, said he supported Trump's takeover. 

"We completely agree with the President here that crime in the district is out of control and something needs to be about it," Pemberton said in support of Trump's actions during an interview on Fox Business on Monday. "This concept that crime is down is really an old trope. They're using statistics in a way that makes it appear that crime is going down, but our rank-in-file officers know that we're going call to, call, to call, for armed car jackings, stabbings, robberies, shootings, homicides and the crime isn't going anywhere."

Pemberton said they welcomed the assistance of the National Guard but expressed concern that the measure was only temporary.

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Trump slammed crime in the city during his press conference on Monday.

"Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people," he said. "And we're not going to let it happen anymore. We're not going to take it," he said. 

The nation's capital in the following years has been rocked by shootings that have left innocent children shot and dead, a trend of juveniles committing carjackings that have turned deadly in some cases, shoplifting crimes and attacks on government employees, summer interns and others, including the fatal shooting of 21-year-old congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, in June.