Brian Schwalb is an American lawyer and Democrat who has been attorney general for the District of Columbia since January 2023, the second person elected to the office. A third-generation Washingtonian, he graduated from Duke University and Harvard Law School, served a judicial clerkship and worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. He later practiced at the law firm Venable, where he was firm-wide vice chairman and partner in charge of its Washington office.
DI has documented statements by Brian Schwalb on Federalism, Law Enforcement, and Military and Defense. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Attorney general for the District of Columbia
Condemned
Response to this claim
Federal law, including the D.C. militia code, does not authorize National Guard troops to do local law enforcement in the District.
“This is not normal, or legal, and we cannot become numb to it.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Attorney General Schwalb Issues Statement Following Hearing in Lawsuit to End Illegal National Guard Deployment in DC · Brian SchwalbStatement and stayed preliminary-injunction history
Why we used this label
Schwalb expressly condemns the deployment under scrutiny and seeks its termination.
The Trump administration says federal law and the D.C. militia code authorize its National Guard deployment in Washington. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb calls it illegal. A D.C. Circuit panel heard the appeal on October 14 and has not ruled.
