McCabe: Trump’s D.C. Crackdown Will Have Negative Impacts on the Safety of This Country

On Monday’s edition of CNN’s News Central, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe warned that President Donald Trump’s decision to take federal control of Washington, D.C.’s police department could seriously affect national safety and security.

McCabe expressed concern over the lack of immediate resistance from D.C. authorities, suggesting they may still be processing the unusual move. He called the situation “absolutely so bizarre.”

He pointed out that the plan could involve “hundreds of FBI agents” patrolling D.C. streets—something they are neither trained nor typically authorized to do.

According to McCabe, FBI agents usually focus on investigations, not street patrols, and arresting people in non-federal areas falls outside their usual jurisdiction. He noted there’s no clear plan for how such operations would work.

McCabe stressed that this shift would divert agents from critical duties, including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigations.

He warned that crimes against children and other serious threats could go unaddressed if resources are redirected to patrol duties.

In his view, the move is not only impractical but potentially unsafe, both for agents and for D.C. residents, and could lead to “major impacts on the safety and security of this country.”