WASHINGTON — The Justice Department delivered a sharp rebuke to the D.C. Council, criticizing members for asking governors to withdraw National Guard troops from the city.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, sent a letter accusing the council of feigning "ignorance of the historic public safety strides made in our Nation's capital" and dismissed their request as "impotent theatrics."
Council members had sent letters to governors in 10 states early last month asking them to pull their Guard personnel from Washington, a bid to reduce the federal military footprint in local policing.
McDonald also accused the council of showing "callousness—instead of compassion and care—toward your constituents, who now live in a city with far less violence and fear thanks to the National Guard and the D.C. [police]."
The exchange lays bare the tension between federal authorities and the D.C. Council over local control and public safety. The Justice Department flatly rejected the council's effort to influence state governors over troop deployments in the capital—asserting that authority does not belong to the council.
