House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer demanded that the Metropolitan Police Department share the findings of its internal investigation into alleged crime data manipulation, in which police brass reportedly fudged numbers to cover up how severe crime is in the District.
Mr. Comer said the committee learned that MPD finalized its report on the potentially fudged crime numbers almost a year after a police commander was suspended for allegedly altering statistics to make his precinct look safer than it was.
The accusations against Cmdr. Michael Pulliam were held up by President Trump to justify his crime crackdown in the District last summer.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have sought to follow up on those allegations in the months since because they claim former Police Chief Pamela A. Smith coordinated the scheme to boost her image.
“The committee was made aware that MPD’s Internal Affairs Department’s investigation has been completed and included substantiated claims against individuals in MPD leadership positions,” Mr. Comer, Kentucky Republican, wrote in his letter to D.C. police this week. “The Committee therefore seeks documents and communications for its own continued investigation.”
The committee chairman requested that MPD share all documents and communications for incident summaries from Jan. 1, 2020, to the present day.
Mr. Comer also asked for adverse actions related to those incident summaries, plus any communications between the police and the D.C. Office of the Inspector General that mentioned the House’s investigation.
He gave interim Police Chief Jeffrey Carroll, to whom the letter was addressed, until May 12 to hand over the documents.
“If MPD refuses to provide the requested documents and communications, the Committee may pursue the compulsory process to compel document production,” Mr. Comer wrote.
The Washington Times contacted MPD for comment on the letter.
The House Oversight Committee released its own report in December that slammed former Chief Smith for threatening her command staff with demotions in order to coerce them into fixing the District’s crime numbers.
House Republicans spoke with the commanders of the city’s seven police districts, plus another commander who was suspended, and they all said Chief Smith was focused on giving residents “the perception of low crime in the District,” according to the December report.
The report said that often involved commanders downgrading an offense from one of the nine violent and property crimes presented on the daily crime updates to “intermediate,” or lesser offenses, that would not be shared publicly.
“Chief Smith, the commanders testified, was so preoccupied with the statistics of the select crimes that were made public that she incentivized her subordinates to lower those crimes by whatever means necessary,” the report said.
“Chief Smith’s decision to mislead the public by manipulating crime statistics is dangerous and undermines trust in both local leadership and law enforcement,” Mr. Comer said at the time.
Ms. Smith resigned from her position at the end of last year and cursed at her critics in a fiery send-off speech at MPD’s headquarters.
“Let’s be really clear about one thing: Never would I, never will I ever compromise my integrity for a few crime numbers,” she said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said some aggravated assault or endangerment with a firearm charges brought to her office qualified for the more serious offense of assault with a deadly weapon. She said her office subsequently upgraded those charges.
The Office of the D.C. Inspector General opened its own probe into allegations that MPD cooked the books on its crime statistics.
According to MPD’s latest statistics, violent crime in the District has fallen sharply again this year, with police data showing that the 26 killings in 2026 represent a 46% drop.
Carjackings are down 51%, and robberies have fallen 22%, according to police data, but weapons assaults are up 35% this year.
