U.S. Attorney for D.C. Plans to Resign as Controversy Over Crime Heats Up

WASHINGTON -- The top federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C., plans to resign Jan. 16 as the incoming president promises a crackdown on the kind of crime that outraged Americans in recent days.

It remains uncertain whether Matthew Graves’ resignation represents an attempt to avoid a backlash from the incoming presidential administration or whether he is following standard protocol when there is a change in presidencies.

Graves was best known for leading the prosecutions of nearly 1,600 defendants charged with breaking into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn the election victory of Joe Biden as president.

Among them, 996 people have pleaded guilty and 255 were convicted by a jury or judge. Others await trial.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to pardon the defendants. He also has sharply criticized Justice Department attorneys like Graves who prosecuted them.

He ramped up his criticisms of the Justice Department again last week after apparent terrorist attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas.

In New Orleans, a man rammed a pickup truck into a crowd on New Year’s Eve, killing 15 people and injuring 30. In Las Vegas, a suicide bomber set off explosives in front of Trump International Hotel, killing himself and injuring seven.

Trump blamed Justice Department and Biden administration inaction for contributing to the attacks in posts on his social media site Truth Social.

“The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job,” he wrote. “They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself.”

He pledged action against violent criminals that could include the CIA.

Graves endured similar criticism as a U.S. attorney.

Some members of Congress accused him of neglecting his duties as crime rose during the pandemic. Their criticism was fueled partly by crimes in Washington that included a congressman being held at gunpoint and carjacked and a congresswoman assaulted in her apartment building.

Graves joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington in 2007. He was appointed as the top prosecutor in 2021.

“Serving as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has been the honor of a lifetime,” Graves said in a statement. “I am deeply thankful to Congresswoman (Eleanor) Holmes Norton for recommending me; to President Biden for nominating me; and to Attorney General (Merrick) Garland for placing his trust in me.”

During his tenure, violent crime in the District of Columbia dropped to its lowest level in 50 years.

His method of using statistical data to target violent offenders, gun and drug-related violence for prosecution appears to be a major factor. His office’s review of the data showed that only a small group of people were causing most of the violence.

Graves’ often found himself at the forefront of national and international political controversies.

He led prosecutions of Gaza conflict protesters accused of assaulting police as well as of climate activists who tried to damage a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

His prosecutions were credited with shutting down a murder-for-hire plot against former National Security Advisor John Bolton and others. His office led the largest financial seizure in Justice Department history when federal agents recovered $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency stolen during the 2016 hack of virtual currency exchange Bitfinex.

Trump has announced nominees for U.S. attorneys in other jurisdictions but not yet for the District of Columbia. In the interim, Bridget M. Fitzpatrick, principal assistant U.S. attorney for the past three years, will become acting U.S. attorney.

For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: tramstack@gmail.com or phone: 202-479-7240.