WASHINGTON — President Trump signed executive orders Monday pushing cities across the country to end cashless bail for criminal suspects — and instructing the DC US Attorney’s office to bring federal charges against criminal defendants in the nation’s capital whenever possible.
The cashless bail order, first reported by The Post, gives Attorney General Pam Bondi 30 days to submit “a list of States and local jurisdictions that have … substantially eliminated cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release from custody for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety and order, including offenses involving violent, sexual, or indecent acts, or burglary, looting, or vandalism.”
The order then directs cabinet secretaries and other agency heads to “identify Federal funds, including grants and contracts, currently provided to cashless bail jurisdictions … that may be suspended or terminated, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”
The District of Columbia barred judges from using cash as a condition of release in 1992 – meaning defendants must either be turned loose or deemed a public safety threat and held pending trial.
Follow The Post’s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis
“They thought it was discriminatory to make people put up money,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We’re ending it, but we’re starting by ending it in DC, and that we have the right to do through federalization.”
New York scrapped the policy for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies in 2019 — and allowed judges to consider the offender’s financial situation when making bond determinations.
On Aug. 11, the president called on Congress to tighten laws around cashless bail and bar criminals from being released without monetary penalties.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has said she intends to sponsor that legislation.
The second order states: “The District of Columbia government’s pretrial release policies, which include prohibiting cash bail, contribute to the disgraceful conditions [in DC]… as law enforcement must arrest the same individuals multiple times, and dangerous criminals are sometimes rapidly released.”
“This leaves such criminals free to endanger American citizens visiting our Nation’s capital, Federal workers discharging their duties to our Nation, and citizens of the District of Columbia trying to live their lives safely,” the document says.
In a third order, as White House staff secretary Will Scharf put it, “the objective is holding as many criminal defendants in federal custody and subjecting them to federal charges as possible.
“That means that they’ll be held pretrial in federal jail, as opposed to just being cut back out on the streets due to cashless bail.”
The US Attorney’s office in DC uniquely prosecutes both federal and local crimes — though current US Attorney Jeanine Pirro has fumed about local laws that allow offenders under age 24 to avoid detention, including a sentence of probation last month for a 19-year-old who shot a man on a crowded bus.
“Do we have the room?” Trump asked Scharf, later adding: “And by the way, the prison they have in DC is horrible. It’s horrible people were subjected to live in that dog trap for so long, so unfairly.
“I have stories you’ll be hearing about them. Prison is horrible,” the president went on, in apparent reference to his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The order making federal charges a point of emphasis for DC suspects also calls for the creation of a special unit in the DC National Guard “dedicated to ensuring public safety and order” in the capital.
