Virginia’s self-styled ‘top cop’ thwarted in bid to expand powers on violent crime

Virginia’s new Republican Attorney General blasted the state’s liberal prosecutors on the campaign trail, saying they weren’t seeking stiff enough sentences and were failing to charge certain crimes. Jason Miyares made a bold promise: if they didn’t enforce the law, he would.

The pitch was central to his platform to approach the job as a tough-on-crime “top cop,” but his bid to expand the limited powers of the attorney general’s office to address violent offenses was dealt a serious setback Monday.