Kentucky AG, Rep. James Comer praise Trump's deployment of troops in Washington
As President Donald Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard troops in Washington this week to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital, some Kentucky leaders said Wednesday they’re considering law enforcement enhancements of their own.
“We must run faster,” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said at a meeting with public safety officials in Shepherdsville. “We must tear down these bureaucratic silos that unnecessarily limit our ability in law enforcement to protect Kentucky, to protect Americans.”
Coleman complimented Rep. James Comer, who also attended the meeting, for his close ties to the Trump administration as chair of the House Oversight Committee, which is intended to provide checks and balances on power in Washington. Coleman noted that Comer has supported the deployment of federal troops in Washington, as Comer on Wednesday criticized the capital’s city council.
“You have such a liberal metro D.C. council there,” said Comer, a Republican representing Kentucky’s 1st District. “You have prosecutors and judges that are just so lenient. They’ve taken criminal justice reform so far to the extreme that the criminals are never held accountable.”
Though Trump and Kentucky Republicans like Coleman and Comer have painted crime as an urgent and worsening problem, the data tells a different story. Violent crime in Washington reached a 30-year low last year, and serious crimes in Kentucky have been declining for several years.
Comer told NewsNation on Thursday that if the federal deployment works in Washington, he would support expanding it to other cities.
“We spend a lot on our military. Our military has been in many countries around the world for the past two decades, walking the streets trying to reduce crime. We need to focus on the big cities in America now,” he said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Coleman, Comer and law enforcement discussed increasing federal funding for initiatives like the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, which puts additional resources in areas deemed “significant center(s)” of illegal drug production, manufacturing and distribution, and the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which provides funds for several state court processes, including policing, prosecution and crime prevention.
“We’ve got a president that has secured the border. That was the first phase in trying to crack down on fentanyl and other drugs that were across the border. The second phase now we’re entering is going after the cartels,” Comer said.
As Gov. Andy Beshear continues to push back on Trump’s agenda through legal action, Coleman said he’d be monitoring those filings in his capacity as attorney general.
“The governor has his office, and he’s suing on behalf of his administration. It’s an important distinction,” Coleman said. “Under our system, the attorney general of the commonwealth, our General Assembly, and our constitution have vested the authority to sue on behalf of the commonwealth of Kentucky.
“We’re watching what the governor does very carefully and will act accordingly.”
