Democracy Forward President & CEO Skye Perryman: “If this can happen in one city, it can happen in any city or community.”

Washington, D.C. – On Monday, President Trump announced in a press conference and executive order that he will deploy National Guard troops to Washington D.C. and take control of the city’s police force. The President falsely cited crime rates as the pretense for this executive overreach despite historic lows in violent crime throughout the city. The organization is monitoring the ongoing situation in the District of Columbia and considering legal options.

The President’s announcement came as the White House has been desperate to redirect the media and public’s attention away from the administration’s continued mishandling of processes related to the handling of the Epstein Files. On Friday, Democracy Forward sued the Trump-Vance administration in the first lawsuit to be filed over the administration’s handling of these records, seeking access to documents that include senior administration officials’ communications regarding Epstein documents from the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Since Inauguration, Democracy Forward has served as a critical bulwark against the administration’s executive overreach and unconstitutional actions. The organization has filed over 90 legal actions and launched over 110 investigations, securing significant victories for the American people. 

See Coverage Below:

MSNBC’s The Weeknight: 

Alicia Menendez (in discussion of Democracy Forward’s litigation related to the Epstein Files): “Again, it should not be extraordinary for a judge to call the government out for what is clearly a head fake. And yet, in this moment, it does seem significant, Skye, that you still have judges who are willing to not just do their job, but call the thing the thing.”

Skye Perryman: “What else happened today? Right as this opinion was coming out and these scathing words that speak the truth and say to Americans what we all know — which is this administration is not leveling with us. You have the president doing a press conference saying lies about the District of Columbia and now saying that he’s going to take over yet another local community. Why is that happening? It’s not happening because he cares about public safety. Our crime in Washington, D.C. is at a 30 year low. It is just another effort, again, to distract and delay because he’s facing so much pressure. And I think that’s the other piece of this story, the fact that you have the president on this press conference today, the same day that a federal judge is calling him in the administration out and saying, if you want to be transparent, be transparent, but what you have done here is a farce.” 

The New York Times: For Trump, Cities Like Washington Are Real Estate in Need of Fixing Up

To hear President Trump tell it, the nation’s capital is something akin to a blighted property in need of repair.

Washington, he says, is “unsafe” and “dirty” and “disgusting.” It is menaced by “bloodthirsty criminals” and marred by homelessness. It needs to be cleaned up and made “beautiful again.”

“The District is a vibrant city with a rich history, and strong and diverse communities,” said Skye Perryman, the president of Democracy Forward, a left-leaning nonprofit based in Washington.

“The president is again overreaching and engaging in draconian tactics that do not make anyone safer and threaten the civil liberties and freedom of the American people,” Ms. Perryman said. “If this can happen in one city, it can happen in any city or community.”

Legal AF: Trump Admin LOSES BIG TIME as They’re HIT With LEGAL ONSLAUGHT

Michael Popok: “He gathered half his cabinet to talk about the takeover of the DC police and you’ve already come out of the box right away about that issue and what it means. I would like you to comment on it.”

Skye Perryman: “If it can happen in Washington DC, if it can happen in Los Angeles, it can happen in cities or communities where you are or cities and communities where your loved ones are…We believe this is a distraction technique… it’s unlawful, unnecessary and wrong for the kind of deployment he is trying to do in DC. We need to – every single time – ground ourselves in the facts. He gave a press conference that had a bunch of very inaccurate and misleading information about Washington DC, the people that live there, the crime rates there – they’re at historic lows. Then he proceeded to use this collection of misstatements and misinformation to start making a variety of threats and promises of federalization and take over of the local police department… This is really another escalation. It is a distraction, it is unlawful, it’s harmful, it’s not making anyone’s life better like nobody’s life got better because of this press conference or what it’s going to do. So our team is monitoring it.”

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.