AG showdown: DC attorney general rejects US Attorney General Pam Bondi order as 'unlawful'

U S Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order on Thursday to slap down D C Metropolitan Police Department sanctuary policies and place Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrence Cole in charge of the department as exigency police commissioner but D C Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back highlighting a letter in which District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb opined that the order from Bondi is unlawful In reference to the U S Attorney General s order there is no statute that conveys the District s personnel authority to a federal official Bowser declared in a social media post Bowser included a letter from Schwalb to MPD Police Chief Pamela Smith in which the D C attorney general explained that in his view the order from Bondi is unlawful and that Smith is not legally obligated to follow it AG BONDI STRIPS POWER FROM DC POLICE CHIEF RESCINDS SANCTUARY CITY PROTECTIONS IN CRIME CRACKDOWN OPERATIONIn her order Bondi declared that police leadership must receive approval from Commissioner Cole before issuing any further directives to the MPD Bondi rescinded an executive order that was just issued on Thursday by the police chief She also suspended parts of two general orders until further notice and directed the MPD to enforce to the maximum extent permissible by law section - District of Columbia Code and all District of Columbia municipal regulations pertaining to the unlawful occupancy of populace spaces DEFEND THE HOMELAND DHS UNVEILS STRIKING NEW ICE FLEET TO BOOST RECRUITMENT VISIBILITYThe showdown between the two attorneys general comes as President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on crime in the nation's capital This week he issued an executive order that declared the Mayor of the District of Columbia Mayor shall provide the services of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes for the maximum period permitted under section of the Home Rule Act WATCH NATIONAL GUARD HUMVEES ROUGHLY TROOPS STAND GUARD OUTSIDE DC'S UNION STATION AMID POLICE TAKEOVERBut in the letter to the D C police chief Schwalb asserted that Section of the Home Rule Act does not authorize the President or his delegee to remove or replace the Chief of Police to alter the chain of command within MPD to demand services directly from you MPD or anyone other than the Mayor to rescind or suspend MPD orders or directives or to set the general enforcement priorities of MPD or otherwise determine how the District pursues purely local law enforcement The Bondi Order is therefore ultra vires he declared Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this assessment