Bondi names DC ’emergency police commissioner’

Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) chief Thursday to serve as Washington’s “emergency police commissioner,” a move to wrest power from the District’s current police chief amid the Trump administration’s law enforcement takeover.

DEA Administrator Terry Cole will now assume “all of the powers and duties” of D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith, Bondi said in a directive Thursday. The appointment quickly drew backlash from local officials, including D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D), who told Smith in a letter that he believed Cole’s appointment was unlawful and launched a suit over the matter early Friday.

The attorney general’s directive asserted that Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) leaders had to receive approval from Cole before issuing any directives to its officers. 

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