DC mayor fires back at House Oversight Committee over 'politically motivated' crime statistics report

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized an interim House Oversight Committee report on the city's crime statistics, saying the findings were driven by politics rather than a complete investigation.

Fox News Digital obtained a letter Bowser sent on Monday to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif.

"Since the outset, my Administration has fully cooperated with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Committee) investigation into allegations concerning publicly reported crime statistics by the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department," Bowser said in part.

"That cooperation was intended to educate the Committee about the complex subject of crime reporting, address the public misrepresentations about crime in the nation's capital, and identify policies and processes that could be improved to ensure transparent, high-quality crime data. The Committee's interim report is a disappointing rejection of that good faith approach and instead reflects a rush to judgement in order to serve a politically motivated timeline and release a report whose outcome appears to have been determined before the investigation began."

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The committee’s 22-page report claims that outgoing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith, who announced her resignation on Dec. 8, oversaw an unprecedented system of intervention in crime reporting.

It alleges that Smith, who is expected to remain in the position through the end of the year, pressured commanders on numerous occasions, and at times instructed them to downgrade offenses and avoid classifications that would appear on the city's daily crime report.

The findings, based on eight transcribed interviews with MPD district commanders, describe a toxic management environment in which accuracy was sacrificed for optics, and career officials faced public humiliation or demotion for presenting Smith with unfavorable crime statistics.

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Bowser defended Smith in her letter as an integral figure in helping reduce a 2023 spike in violent crime and homicides. She also noted that the committee did not interview Smith or any of MPD’s assistant chiefs before issuing its findings.

"Even a cursory review of the report reveals its prejudice: of the 22 block quotes presented as complaining about Chief Smith’s management style, 20 of them were made by only two command officials interviewed," Bowser wrote.

The House Oversight investigation unfolded against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown in the nation’s capital. In August, Trump issued an executive order to address the "epidemic of crime" in the district and deployed federal law enforcement personnel, including the National Guard.

Bowser said the district is committed to publishing accurate, high-quality crime statistics.

"The pressure public leaders should all feel to reduce crime and the fear of crime in our communities will never be an acceptable excuse to intentionally alter and downgrade crime, and any police official who believes otherwise will be held accountable," she added.