WASHINGTON — House Republicans launched an investigation Monday into “disturbing allegations” that Washington, DC officials have tampered with the District’s crime data to make the nation’s capital appear safer than it truly is.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating disturbing allegations that DC crime data is inaccurate and intentionally manipulated, potentially at the direction of Metropolitan Police Department leadership,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement.

“MPD has a duty under federal and local law to accurately report crime to the public. However, in May, MPD placed Third District Commander Michael Pulliam on administrative leave following allegations that he altered crime reports,” Comer added.

“Unfortunately, this practice does not appear to be isolated, nor is it a recent development. MPD recently entered into a settlement agreement related to allegations that senior MPD officials were engaged in falsifying crime statistics to artificially lower reported crime rates.”

The Oversight panel initiated the probe following whistleblower testimony and has requested records and transcribed interviews with commanders of each of DC’s seven patrol districts — including Pulliam, who is currently on leave pending an investigation.

Trump’s Department of Justice is also looking into fudged criminal statistics in the nation’s capital.

The whistleblower told the House Oversight Committee that senior MPD officials directed subordinates to “manipulate” crime data “on a widespread basis” — despite having “only a cursory understanding of the facts and circumstances of the crime.”

Last month, DC Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC Washington: “When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain that will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense.”

Pulliam, commander in the city’s 3rd District, was put on paid leave in May, with sources telling the outlet he was facing an internal investigation for tweaking the crime stats.

The police union is defending him and claiming MPD leadership forced him to falsify violent crime data.

The Republican-led inquiry follows an executive order signed by President Trump Aug. 11 to deploy the National Guard and surge federal resources into DC to crack down on crime.

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” the president told reporters at the time.

“And we’re not going to let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it.” 

At least 700 National Guard troops have been sent so far to Washington, with another 750 expected.

The federal Home Rule Act of 1973 allows the president to place MPD under federal control for 30 days.

Washington had the fourth-highest homicide rate of any major US city in 2024, with 27.3 people murdered for every 100,000 residents, per a February report by the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Public Safety Initiatives.

Democrats have often downplayed crime in DC by pointing to statistics that show the city recording a 30-year low in violent crime incidents.

MPD data shows violent crime in the district dropped 35% from 2023 (5,345 reported incidents) to 2024 (3,469 incidents), slightly more than the rate by which murders fell over the same period (30.7%), per RIT’s report.