Trump administration sued by DC Attorney General over police takeover.

DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit Friday against the Trump administration over its moves to take over the city’s police department and appoint an emergency commissioner, the latest sign of pushback from district officials against the federal takeover. “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”, Schwalb said in a statement. “The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it”.

The move was initiated after Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday evening ordered the city’s mayor and police department to accept Terry Cole, who is the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency, as the district’s “emergency police commissioner” and give him full control of the department during the federal takeover, which had quickly drawn rebukes from the district’s mayor and attorney general, who suggested they would not comply.

Bondi’s order has formalised the federal government’s control of DC police and directed DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Department to end the capital’s sanctuary city policies.

Bowser quickly rejected the order, writing on social media, “There is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official. Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President. We have followed the law”.

Schwalb also reviewed Bondi’s order and declared it illegal, saying he determined the Home Rule Act did not give President Donald Trump the authority to remove or replace the chief of police, or alter the MPD chain of command. In a letter to DC Police Chief Pamela Smith, Schwalb wrote, “It is my opinion that the Bondi order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it”.

Friday’s lawsuit marks a forceful response from city leaders after days of public statements largely appeasing Trump. Bowser has repeatedly said she wants to make sure the federal law enforcement surge is useful to the city, though she struck a more adversarial tone during an event this week, calling Trump’s police department takeover an “authoritarian push”. Filed in US District Court, the suit argues the Trump administration is “brazenly violating” the Home Rule Act, which gives the president limited, temporary authority to request MPD services.

While arguing on the matter, Schwalb asserted, “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. Congress also limited the President’s authority in requesting services for ‘federal purposes’, such as protecting federal property or personnel — not dictating local enforcement of local laws”.

Bondi’s order had further directed MPD to abandon a directive Smith signed earlier in the day giving officers limited ability to share information with federal immigration officials. And, the order said, MPD leaders “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole before issuing any further directives”. Justice Department officials believed that earlier directive was meant to reinforce the type of sanctuary city policies that DOJ has vowed to put an end to, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

In addition to ordering that the directive be rescinded, Bondi instructed Bowser to get rid of two additional police policies aimed at protecting undocumented migrants, including one that prevents MPD from arresting an individual solely for federal immigration warrants. This comes after Trump earlier this week declared a crime emergency and had federalised DC’s police, tapping Cole as interim federal commissioner of MPD.

Schwalb wrote in his letter to Smith that Trump and Bondi are now overstepping their legal authority.

“Having been duly appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council, you are the lawfully appointed Chief of Police of the District of Columbia. Therefore, members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor”.

Bondi’s move makes clear that the federal police takeover in DC will go hand-in-hand with the Trump administration’s hardline immigration enforcement goals, and the DC will not remain a sanctuary city actively shielding criminal aliens. While, Christina Henderson, a member of the DC City Council, also responded to the order on social media Thursday, writing “Respectfully, the Attorney General does not have the authority to revoke laws”.

Earlier on Thursday, Smith signed an executive order allowing DC police officers to share information about people not in their custody with federal immigration enforcement agencies, as well as allowing local police to assist with transporting the agencies’ personnel and detainees.

However, the earlier order, citing DC law and police code of conduct, continues to prohibit officers from looking through police databases solely for a person’s immigration status, from making inquiries about a person’s immigration status “for the purpose of determining whether they have violated the civil immigration laws or for the purpose of enforcing civil immigration laws”, and from arresting anyone based only on federal immigration warrants.

Team Maverick