The Donald Trump administration, stepping up its crackdown on policing in the U.S. capital, has named the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to be Washington's "emergency police commissioner," with all the powers of the police chief — a significant move that the D.C. attorney general said was unlawful.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a directive issued Thursday evening that DEA boss Terry Cole will assume "powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia chief of police." The Metropolitan Police Department "must receive approval from Commissioner Cole" before issuing any orders, Bondi said.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, in a memo made public to Pamela Smith, the city's current police chief, responded that the unlawful order could not be followed by the c

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