By MELISSA GOLDIN

In addition to pardoning two North Carolina turkeys at the annual White House ceremony Tuesday, President Donald Trump discussed his crime-fighting efforts in Washington, D.C., claiming that it’s been months since the city has seen a murder.

Related Articles

Health care plan circulated by the White House runs into familiar GOP divisions

DC Mayor Bowser announces she won’t seek fourth term, as Trump’s federal intervention continues

Wisconsin Supreme Court says 3-judge panels must decide congressional redistricting cases

Democratic congressman’s lawsuit claims Trump housing official abused post to target Trump critics

X’s new feature raises questions about the foreign origins of some popular US political accounts

But Metropolitan Police Department statistics say otherwise.

Trump deployed National Guard troops to Washington in August in an effort to curb violent crime even though it had already reached its lowest levels in decades.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

TRUMP: “We haven’t had a murder in six months.”

THE FACTS: That’s false. There have been 62 homicides in Washington since May 25, including one last week, according to the MPD. The city has seen 123 homicides so far in 2025. Since National Guard troops were deployed to Washington on Aug. 11, there have been 24. In some data, only 61 homicides were reported in the last six months, and only 23 since Aug. 11, because of a technical error, the MPD said.

Asked for comment on Trump’s claim, the department said that the statistics speak for themselves.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers stressed Trump’s transformation of Washington “from a crime-ridden mess into a beautiful, clean, safe city” when asked about the discrepancy between his claim and city data. She did not address the discrepancy directly.

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to end its monthslong deployment of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb found that Trump’s military takeover illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement in the district. The order is on hold for 21 days to allow for appeal.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb in September sued to challenge the Guard deployments. He asked the judge to bar the White House from deploying Guard troops without the mayor’s consent while the lawsuit plays out.

During the turkey pardoning, Trump said Washington “is now considered a safe zone,” making the erroneous claim that “we haven’t seen a murder in six months.”

A Department of Justice report from January showed that total violent crime in 2024 was at the lowest it had been in more than 30 years, including a 32% drop in homicides from 2023, when it experienced a post-pandemic peak.

Homicides in the past six months are down 46% from the same period last year, while homicides since the August deployment are down 38% from the previous period, MPD data shows. There has been a 29% decrease in homicides in 2025 to date compared to 2024.

Violent crime during the National Guard’s initial one-month surge in Washington was down 39% from the same period last year, including a 53% drop in homicides, with seven during the surge, compared to 15 during the same timespan in 2024.

Arson is the only type of crime that has not seen a decrease, with a 0% change from last year to this year.

The city’s statistics came into question, however, after federal authorities opened an investigation into allegations that officials altered some of the data to make it look better. The investigation is ongoing.

Associated Press writers Gary Fields and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says it is moving away from its CodeRED emergency system following recent cyberattacks and data breaches nationwide.

CodeRED is a critical notification system used to deliver time-sensitive alerts during severe weather events, public safety threats and other emergencies. CodeRED has reported that information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and possibly passwords for profiles may have been compromised.

“If the same password is used by system users for any other personal or business accounts, those passwords should be changed immediately,” county officials said.

During this transition, partner agencies with emergency alerting capabilities will issue public alerts on Washington County’s behalf.

The county is encouraging residents who use the system to do the following:

• Change any usernames or passwords to other personal or business accounts similar to those used for CodeRED profiles.

• Ensure Emergency Alerts are turned on in phone settings.

• Follow Washington County Sheriff’s Office and local public safety agencies on social media.

• Maintain multiple ways to receive alerts, such as NOAA Weather Radio and local news outlets.

The county said CodeRED has reported there is no evidence that any user information has been used to carry out identity theft or fraud.

Related Articles

Protesters gather as federal agents take man into custody at St. Paul home

St. Paul: Woman critically injured after driver strikes her and husband in crosswalk

Q&A: St. Paul police chief on goals met and unmet — and relationships with mayor and mayor-elect

Ice safety is important any time, but especially right after freeze-up

Stillwater prison 2.0: The DOC is testing ‘earned living units’ prior to 2029 closure

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in Manhattan is demanding more information from the Justice Department as he weighs its request to unseal records from the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell.

Related Articles

Health care plan circulated by the White House runs into familiar GOP divisions

DC Mayor Bowser announces she won’t seek fourth term, as Trump’s federal intervention continues

Wisconsin Supreme Court says 3-judge panels must decide congressional redistricting cases

Democratic congressman’s lawsuit claims Trump housing official abused post to target Trump critics

X’s new feature raises questions about the foreign origins of some popular US political accounts

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to tell him what materials it plans to publicly release that were subject to secrecy orders in the British socialite’s case.

The deadline: Noon on Wednesday.

Engelmayer’s order came after the Justice Department on Monday asked for his permission to release grand jury records, exhibits and discovery materials in the Maxwell case.

Engelmayer said government lawyers must file a letter on the case docket describing materials it wants to release “in sufficient detail to meaningfully inform victims” what it plans to make public.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of Epstein’s underage victims. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Epstein, a millionaire money manager known for socializing with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and the academic elite, killed himself in jail a month after his 2019 arrest.

Engelmayer had already notified victims and Maxwell that they can respond next month to Justice Department’s request to release materials before he decides whether to grant it.

The Justice Department said it was seeking the court’s approval to release materials to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed into law last week by President Donald Trump. It calls for the release of grand jury and discovery materials in the case.

The request, along with an identical one for grand jury transcripts from Epstein’s case, was among the first public indications that the Justice Department was trying to comply with the transparency act, which requires it to release Epstein-related files in a searchable format by Dec. 19.

Engelmayer did not preside over the trial, but was assigned to the case after the trial judge, Alison J. Nathan, was elevated to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Discovery materials subject to secrecy orders are likely to include victim interviews and other materials that previously would have been only viewed by lawyers or Maxwell prior to her trial.

Engelmayer said in an order Monday that Maxwell and victims of Maxwell and Epstein can respond by Dec. 3 to the government’s request to make materials public. The government must respond to their filings by Dec. 10. The judge said he will rule “promptly thereafter.”

Lawyers for victims did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. A spokesperson for federal prosecutors declined to comment.

Judge Richard M. Berman, who presided over the Epstein case before his death, issued an order on Tuesday allowing victims and Epstein’s estate to respond to the Justice Department’s unsealing request by Dec. 3. He said the government can respond to any submissions by Dec. 8.

Berman said he would make his “best efforts to resolve this motion promptly.”

The city of Grant has hired longtime area city administrator Kristina Handt to be its new interim city administrator and treasurer.

Her first day on the job was Monday.

Handt takes over the position from Kim Points, who had held the position for 20 years.

The Grant City Council and Points mutually agreed earlier this month that her last day of employment would be Dec. 31, said Mayor Jeff Giefer. Giefer said Tuesday that he could not give details surrounding the separation agreement.

Handt, the former interim city administrator in Forest Lake, most recently served as interim finance director in Oakdale. Her last day was Friday.

Kristina Handt (Courtesy photo)

In addition to her duties as city administrator, Handt will be serving as city treasurer. The Grant City Council plans next month to adopt a resolution to combine the city administrator and city treasurer roles, Giefer said.

“We look forward to the skills and experience Kristina brings to the position,” Giefer said.

Handt and the city entered into a six-month contract for the interim position; her salary for the six months is $60,000, Giefer said. At the conclusion of her six-month contract, both parties may choose to enter into a permanent position/contract, he said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to serve a small, rural community like Grant, which offers unique strengths and has a strong sense of place,” Handt said. “I look forward to supporting the mayor and council in advancing their priorities of good governance, transparency and making sure essential services, including public safety and road infrastructure, are delivered effectively.”

The Forest Lake City Council voted last year to dismiss Handt from the interim city administrator position. She had previously served as city administrator in Lake Elmo and Scandia.

Related Articles

Washington County emergency alert system is victim of cyberattack

Lake Elmo Elementary School property sold for $4.25M to nonprofit

MN State Parks, Washington County Parks offer free entry Friday

Winter storm warning goes into effect for Twin Cities late Tuesday

Punsters, now is your time to shine: Washington County launches this year’s snowplow-naming contest