CA AG Bonta: Trump ‘Has Been Engaged in an Unlawful Power Grab’

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said Tuesday on CNN’s “New Central” that President Donald Trump sending the National Guard to Los Angeles was “an unlawful power grab.”

Bonta said, “We sued yesterday because the president has been engaged in an unlawful power grab. He has tried to seize authority he does not have. He cannot lawfully deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles, period, full stop—the statute he cites to does not give him that authority. You need to have an invasion or a rebellion, or the inability to execute the laws of the United States. None of that is present. He also needs to have consulted Governor Newsom and issued the order through Governor Newsom, who has objected to calling in the National Guard. So we believe clearly and unambiguously under the law, we have a winning case. Today, we are bringing a temporary restraining order request to the court to assure that this case moves quickly, that we get an order as early as today or within the coming days, maybe later this week because of the irreparable and irreversible harm that California faces because of this needless, unnecessary, counterproductive inflammation and provocation. Escalation and antagonizing conducted by the president.”

He added, “We’re talking about the military being brought to Los Angeles, not about civil immigration enforcement, to be clear. Our position is that the president can only do lawful things. He has a lot that he can do within the authority of the president, but he cannot do unlawful things. Calling the military to do civilian law enforcement in the city of Los Angeles when he has no authority to do so is unlawful. That’s why we’ve sued him in court.”

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