The Trump Justice Department is investigating whether Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department manipulated crime data, according to two sources.
The investigation, which is being run by the US attorney’s office in DC, is an escalation in the city’s battle against a federal law enforcement takeover from the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump appeared to confirm the probe in a social media post, writing that “D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety. This is a very bad and dangerous thing to do, and they are under serious investigation for so doing!”
The New York Times was first to report the investigation.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith said Wednesday that they will cooperate with the probe – and expect subpoenas may be issued.
“Any questions about data from DOJ we will happily answer,” Bowser said during a school event, while maintaining that crime in the nation’s capital has gone down over the last two years.
Smith said she has not yet been contacted by DOJ about its investigation. “But, I am aware that there may be or will be subpoenas issued, I don’t know to whom, but that’s all I know at this point.”
In Battle Over D.C. Police, Federal Prosecutors Open Inquiry Into Crime Data
The same U.S. attorney’s office that praised a drop in crime in the capital in April has begun an investigation into the Police Department resisting President Trump’s takeover.
