Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said something shocking during this week’s White House briefing: We rearranged the numbers. The Trump administration has rekindled the dispute in Washington, D.C., and the country as a whole with that revelation.
At a news event on Tuesday, Leavitt’s confession was questioned by a reporter about President Trump’s promise to eradicate slums from the capital. In her fiery response, she maintained that the president was focusing on the city’s most hazardous neighborhoods, streets, and communities, where violence has devastated these areas and claimed the lives of far too many law-abiding citizens of Washington, D.C.
Leavitt scolded Instead of using real facts and data, the Washington Post’s so-called fact-based crime maps are merely stories they’ve heard on the street. Then came the shocking statement: We went ahead and adjusted the figures, and as I mentioned earlier, Wards 7 and 8 have accounted for half, almost half, of all arrests that are not related to illegal aliens.
A federal investigation is now firmly focused on the startling disclosure. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., as a result of claims that crime statistics were falsified to support the increased government presence, The Washington Post confirmed on Tuesday.
President Trump threw conspiracy the red carpet right away. He accused D.C. of selling fake crime statistics to create a false sense of safety in his nightly social media tirade.
BREAKING MELTDOWN: Following Trump’s summit, Karoline Leavitt accuses the media of ROOTING AGAINST PEACE.
We haven’t heard of any deals, victories, or advancements thus far. She is acting as a stand-in for Trump’s frail ego.ZsGhLEtaWm pic.twitter.com/
August 19, 2025: CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism)
The Justice Department investigation is accelerating in the meanwhile. Claims that the MPD manipulated its crime statistics to give the appearance of less violence while avoiding federal oversight are being looked at by authorities. This comes after Michael Pulliam, the MPD commander, was suspended for allegedly being at the heart of data tampering claims.
The worst part is that real crime statistics show a very different picture. According to independent studies, violent crime—which includes assaults, robberies, and homicides—has fallen precipitously in 2024 and 2025, reaching a 30-year low.
Regarding the arrests, 212 non-immigration-related arrests occurred during a mid-August surge, with almost half of those arrests occurring in Wards 7 and 8, which are the same communities Leavitt mentioned in her reworded remark.
Russian President Vladimir Putin assured President Trump that he will meet directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday.
The remarks made during the White House press conference coincide with Ukraine’s efforts to gain attention.https://m2HQ56c7Iu
The Hill August 19, 2025 (@thehill)
It becomes murkier the farther critics look. Trump’s crime language, according to Time Magazine, is inflated and ominous, intended to support a federal crackdown, but it is completely at variance with crime numbers that are on the decline.Despite allegations of widespread violence, crime is at a 30-year low, according to The Guardian, although a significant federal presence is apparently being established in high-profile, low-crime tourist destinations.
What does this mean, then? The capital is at the heart of a political and data-driven storm as a result of Leavitt’s remarks reverberating around the city and the Justice Department’s investigation delving deeper into possibly fabricated crime statistics. The disclosure that we changed the statistics wasn’t merely an error; it might be the red flag that local authorities, reporters, and lawmakers have been looking for.
Keep an eye out since the federal government’s first display of ferocity is rapidly crumbling due to its own falsified facts.
