Trump’s D.C. Show of Force Diverts Agents and Prosecutors From Casework

As President Trump’s deployment of federal agents in Washington to crack down on street crime enters its second month, the effects are becoming clear. While crime keeps falling, the other investigative work of the F.B.I. is being delayed, frustrating law enforcement officials and leading some to quit.

At the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, a handful of veteran lawyers stepped down recently. The moves quickened the erosion of experience in the office, which was already understaffed before Mr. Trump ordered National Guard troops and hundreds of additional federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets of the capital.

At the F.B.I., many agents focused on financial fraud and public corruption now spend two or three nights a week patrolling, significantly slowing the progress of their regular work, including witness interviews, search warrants and planning meetings, according to people familiar with the bureau’s priorities. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal staffing challenges. Similar delays are also affecting counterintelligence work, these people said.

“The Trump administration’s show of force is stripping away resources that should be used to investigate other serious crime,” said Mike Romano, a former federal prosecutor in Washington. “Agents who should be investigating financial fraud and public corruption aren’t doing that work.”

Such complaints ring hollow to many Trump administration officials. When one senior Justice Department official was told that the demands of the crackdown were overtaxing agents, he replied that they should “drink more coffee,” according to a person familiar with the conversation.

In a statement, the F.B.I.’s Washington field office said that its personnel had maintained the office’s pace on a host of national security and criminal cases, including pursuing child predators.