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Attorney General Pam Bondi insisted President Donald Trump “absolutely” has the authority to invoke the Insurrection Act to address crime in Democratic-led cities such as Chicago, while criticizing Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Tuesday for rejecting federal assistance.
“Pritzker should be begging Donald Trump to come in,” Bondi said during an appearance on “Hannity.”
“We have [Memphis] Mayor Paul Young working with us. He’s amazing. He’s a Democrat. He wants to make Memphis safe… look [at] how safe D.C. is now because of Muriel Bowser working with Donald Trump. Metro police, Transit Authority police [are] working with all of our federal agents hand-in-hand and our National Guard. Pritzker’s lost his mind.”
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Attorney General Pam Bondi attends an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bondi’s remarks come after the Democratic governor’s repeated pushback against federal intervention efforts, even as other Democratic city officials cooperate with the administration.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, has resisted federal intervention as well.
Bondi posted on X that 4,358 arrests have been made in Washington, D.C., with 413 illegal guns seized.
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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
At the same time, 854 arrests were made and 180 illegal guns were seized in Memphis.
The discussion follows court rulings that restricted National Guard deployments, prompting Trump to consider invoking the Insurrection Act – a law that authorizes the president to deploy active-duty military or federalized National Guard forces within the country under limited circumstances, such as to suppress civil disorder, rebellion or obstruction of federal law.
It has been invoked about 30 times by roughly 10 presidents, most recently by George H. W. Bush during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
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Bondi said Trump “absolutely” has the authority to invoke the act but pointed to previous law enforcement successes, including this year’s anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, where she noted the act was not necessary.
Despite raising the possibility, Trump told reporters Monday that he didn’t have to “go there yet” because his administration is “winning on appeal.”
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
