By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The police chief in the nation’s capital pressured subordinates to manipulate department data to artificially lower the city’s crime rates, according to a report by a Republican-led congressional committee.

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The report, released Sunday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, found that Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith often threatened, punished and retaliated against police commanders who presented her with “spikes in crime.”

A separate investigation by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office also found that a significant number of MPD reports had been misclassified to make crime rates appear lower than they are.

Pirro’s office began its investigation in August at the height of a political showdown between Republican President Donald Trump’s administration and the city over control of the police department. Trump claimed violent crime in Washington was getting worse as he ordered a federal takeover of the police department,

Neither investigation found grounds for charging anybody with a crime.

“However, it is up to MPD to take steps to internally address these underlying issues,” Pirro said in a statement Monday.

Smith, who is stepping down at the end of the year after two years in charge of the department, has said she doesn’t believe any crime numbers were manipulated during her tenure.

“I have never and will never authorize or even support any thought processes or activities with regards to crime numbers being manipulated,” she told Fox 5 during an interview earlier this month.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday defended Smith’s performance and accused the House committee’s leaders of rushing to judgment “in order to serve a politically motivated timeline.”

“It is my expectation that the crime statistics we publish and rely on are accurate and of the highest quality possible,” Bowser, a Democrat, wrote in a letter addressed to the House committee’s chair and ranking member.

Homicides are down 31% this year, from 181 in 2024 to 125 with two weeks left in 2025, according to MPD crime data. Bowser said independent data on hospital visits shows a 33% drop in firearm injuries for the first 10 months of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024. The mayor accused the committee of cherry-picking critical quotes from commanders without interviewing Smith or any assistant chiefs.

“Even a cursory review of the report reveals its prejudice: of the 22 block quotes presented as complaining about Chief Smith’s management style, 20 of them were made by only two command officials interviewed,” Bowser wrote.

The House committee said its findings are based in part on interviews with the commanders of all seven D.C. patrol districts and a former commander who is currently on leave. Commanders testified that Smith pushed for a more frequent use of “intermediate” criminal charges that go unreported as opposed to more serious charges that must be publicly reported, according to the committee.

“These combined efforts, as explained by commanders, amounted to manipulating MPD crime statistics in an effort to show lowered rates of crime to the public,” the report says.

Pirro, who was appointed by Trump, said her office reviewed nearly 6,000 police reports and interviewed more than 50 witnesses in concluding that a “significant number of reports had been misclassified, making crime appear artificially lower than it was.”

“The uncovering of these manipulated crime statistics makes clear that President Trump has reduced crime even more than originally thought, since crimes were actually higher than reported,” Pirro’s statement says.

The committee’s Republican chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said Smith “cultivated a culture of fear to achieve her agenda.”

“Every single person who lives, works, or visits the District of Columbia deserves a safe city, yet it’s now clear the American people were deliberately kept in the dark about the true crime rates in our nation’s capital,” Comer said in a statement.

Two special primary elections on Tuesday will determine the Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidates who will advance to the January general election in St. Paul’s House District 64A and Woodbury’s House District 47A.

Both seats have been vacant since their former representatives won election to new offices in November. Rep. Kaohly Her, DFL-St. Paul, was elected St. Paul’s next mayor, and Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury, won a special election for Senate District 47, the seat Nicole Mitchell resigned from after her burglary conviction.

Both districts strongly favor Democratic candidates. Six DFLers are seeking their party’s nomination in St. Paul’s District 64A, which includes the Union Park, Macalester-Groveland and Summit-University neighborhoods.

The following DFL candidates are on the ballot:

• Beth Fraser, a former Minnesota deputy secretary of state.

• Matt Hill, an aide on the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.

• Meg Luger-Nikolai, a labor attorney endorsed by the DFL.

• Dan McGrath, a longtime progressive organizer.

• Lois Quam, a health care executive who helped implement MinnesotaCare.

• John Zwier, an assistant attorney general under Keith Ellison

The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face the sole Republican in the Jan. 27 special election — business owner Dan Walsh. DFLers dominate elections in St. Paul. Her won four consecutive two-year terms with more than 80% of the vote.

District 47A

Meanwhile, three candidates are seeking the DFL nomination in House District 47A, which includes parts of the city of Woodbury and southern Maplewood. No Republican filed paperwork to run in the district, meaning Tuesday’s primary will likely determine the winner of the January special election.

The following candidates have filed paperwork to run:

• David Azcona, a self-described lifelong Woodbury resident and a recent graduate of St. Olaf College. Azcona has advocated for lower-income college students in Minnesota.

• Shelley Buck, the former president of the Prairie Island Tribal Council and director of a Dakota-led nonprofit organization working to restore land around St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, known as Owámniyomni in the Dakota language. Buck has the DFL endorsement.

• Juli Servatius, who describes herself as an advocate for single mothers in Ramsey and Washington County with “40 years experience helping the poor and vulnerable” and a longtime resident of Maplewood and Woodbury.

Minnesota’s House currently has 67 Republican members and 65 DFL members, though barring a significant, unprecedented upset, January’s special elections are likely to return the chamber to a 67-67 tie, which voters delivered in the 2024 election.

Minnesota has seen an unusually high number of special elections this year due to deaths, criminal cases and a candidate residency dispute.

So far, there have been six special elections in 2025. The last time there were that many was 1994, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

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The Minnesota Legislature is scheduled to reconvene on Feb. 17.

Early voting has been underway since Tuesday, Dec. 9. Information on where to vote can be found at pollfinder.sos.mn.gov.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A small plane crashed in central Mexico while trying to make an emergency landing Monday, killing at least seven people, Mexico State Civil Protection Coordinator Adrián Hernández said.

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The accident took place in San Mateo Atenco, an industrial area three miles from the Toluca airport, about 31 miles west of Mexico City. The plane had taken off from Acapulco, along Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Hernández said the private jet had registered eight passengers and two crew, but hours after the crash only seven bodies had been recovered.

He said the plane had apparently tried to land on a soccer field but hit the metal roof of a nearby business, starting a large fire. The crash is under investigation.

San Mateo Atenco Mayor Ana Muñiz told Milenio Television that the fire forced the evacuation of some 130 people in the area.

By SEJAL GOVINDARAO

Hotels are reopening on the Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim on Wednesday after the park halted overnight accommodations for over a week due to water-line breaks, the park said Monday.

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The park will resume overnight stays at El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, Delaware North’s Yavapai Lodge and Trailer Village. Some campground water hoses will remain off, and fire restrictions at the South Rim will continue.

The park first took steps to conserve water earlier this month by pausing overnight stays after the breaks. A vast majority of the Grand Canyon’s visitors spend their time at the South Rim, and more than 41,000 people used overnight lodging in the park last December, though the winter season is sleepier.

It’s the second time the park has taken such action though the pipeline has experienced frequent failures over the years. Last August, park officials took unprecedented action and imposed water restrictions that forced the sudden shutdown of overnight hotel stays during one of the busiest times of the year.

FILE – Guests exit Bright Angel Lodge on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Grand Canyon, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Maintenance of the 12.5 mile-long Transcanyon Waterline, the primary water source for residents, staff and tourists, has long been a priority for the park. A $208 million rehabilitation of the pipeline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system began in 2023 is expected to wrap up in 2027.

Park officials are encouraging visitors and residents to still take conservation measures such as shortening showers, washing full loads of laundry and turning off the faucet when brushing teeth. Hikers should bring or treat water water if needed, said the park.