Democratic mayors and governors earlier this month bashed the effort to withhold funds from their areas as illegal and a distraction from Covid deaths.
Allan Smith, September 21, 2020
The Department of Justice on Monday released a list of cities it has deemed “anarchist jurisdictions” under President Donald Trump’s instructions earlier this month to review federal funding to state and local governments where violence or vandalism has taken place during protests.
That memo directed Attorney General William Barr, in consultation with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, to identify jurisdictions “that have permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract these criminal activities (anarchist jurisdictions).”
On Monday, the Justice Department labeled New York City, Portland and Seattle such areas, though the department said it was still working to identify other jurisdictions that meet criteria outlined in Trump’s memo.
