Federal Accountability

Federal law invoked by Trump Administration, IEEPA, makes no mention of “tariffs,” “duties,” or even “customs,” “taxes,” or “imposts.”  

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump, opposing the Trump Administration’s persistent efforts to impose illegal tariffs that have sent shockwaves and uncertainty through global economies, markets, and consumers. In the brief, Attorney General Bonta argues that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the President has used as a vehicle to levy the tariffs in question, does not delegate any authority to the President to impose tariffs. Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump is scheduled for oral argument before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 5, 2025. President Trump’s illegal tariffs are causing uncertainty and unpredictability, which is bad for business, bad for the economy, and as the fourth largest economy in the world, bad for California. In April, Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s unlawful use of power to impose tariffs without the consent of Congress. 

“President Trump’s illegal tariffs impact businesses, consumers, and states across the nation — and they are illegal. Any attempt by the Trump Administration to interpret IEEPA as giving it the power to impose tariffs is a feat of mental gymnastics,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “No matter how you spin it, no matter what definitions the Administration reaches for, 2 + 2 does not equal 10. Congress does not hide elephants in mouseholes — if Congress had intended to grant the President such extraordinary authority, it would have said so. Today, California asks the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”

“Trump’s illegal tariffs are punishing American families and small businesses. It’s not policy or business acumen — it’s betrayal and grift. Americans are struggling to put food on their tables, and Trump’s response is to send $20 billion in taxpayer money to Argentina and leave our farmers and ranchers out to dry," said Governor Gavin Newsom. "While Trump continues to play political games and make shady deals for his own benefit, California will keep fighting on your behalf. We urge the court to stand firm against authoritarianism and uphold the rule of law that it is sworn to protect.”

Since February 2025, President Trump has issued an unprecedented and chaotic series of executive orders imposing tariffs, ranging from 10% to 145% on nearly every trading partner of the United States. California is the fourth-largest economy in the world and the largest importer of goods among the 50 states. The illegal tariffs imposed by President Trump using IEEPA threaten to devastate California’s economy, depriving it of $25 billion and more than 64,000 jobs. 

Instead of invoking any of the Tariff or Trade Acts as authority for his unilateral overhaul of our nation’s tariff system, the President invoked IEEPA, a federal statute enacted in 1977 that allows the President to take certain specified actions in response to a declared national emergency resulting from an unusual and extraordinary foreign threat. In the nearly fifty years since its enactment, no President has ever before invoked IEEPA to impose tariffs because IEEPA does not reference the power to tax or tariff at all.   

Moreover, every time that Congress has delegated tariff authority to the President, it has referred explicitly to tariffs, using terms like “duties” or “tariffs.” IEEPA makes no mention of “tariffs,” “duties,” or any similar term, such as “customs,” “taxes,” or “imposts.” IEEPA includes the phrase “regulate . . . importation,” which the Administration has taken to mean impose tariffs — despite the Administration’s inability to point to a single other statute in the entirety of the U.S. Code where “regulate” has been understood to bestow such power to the President. 

BACKGROUND:

Attorney General Bonta is committed to challenging the illegal tariffs that threaten California jobs, businesses, and consumers — tariffs that have sent shockwaves through financial markets, businesses, and consumers in every corner of the globe. The California Department of Justice has challenged President Trump’s illegal tariffs on all fronts:

In April, Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s unlawful use of power to impose tariffs without the consent of Congress. In June, a judge granted California's request for dismissal to allow the state to appeal its case challenging the Trump Administration’s illegal tariffs after the Administration asked that the case be transferred to the Court of International Trade — a motion that California opposed. The dismissal kept the case in California and allowed California to appeal to the Ninth Circuit. California’s case has been held in abeyance by the Ninth Circuit pending the Supreme Court’s resolution of these cases. For more information on California’s case, please see here.

Other states and entities nationwide have filed lawsuits of their own. Attorney General Bonta has filed an amicus brief in the Court of International Trade in Oregon v. Trump as well as in the D.C. Circuit in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, cases challenging President Trump’s illegal imposition of tariffs.

Attorney General Bonta has hosted roundtable discussions in San Francisco and Los Angeles for business leaders on the front lines of the tariff war to discuss the impacts of tariffs on industries across California. 

A copy of the brief is available here.

Records sought by U.S. DOJ are outrageously expansive, seek to intimidate those providing and receiving gender-affirming care 

U.S. DOJ subpoena includes unprecedented interpretation of federal law that could expose doctors to criminal liability for offering evidence-based treatments

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced joining a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The brief opposes the Trump Administration’s motion to reconsider the court’s ruling quashing in its entirety the U.S. Department of Justice’s (U.S. DOJ) subpoena for documents, including patient records, related to gender affirming care at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH). 

“From President Trump to the U.S. Department of Justice, the entirety of the federal government is attacking gender-affirming care — even in states, like California, that support the rights of transgender youth to live their lives as their authentic selves,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We will not bow down to any of those unlawful actions, no matter where they are happening. We are asking the federal district court in Massachusetts to, once again, reject the Trump Administration’s subpoena seeking information related to gender affirming care. The records sought by the U.S. Department of Justice are outrageously expansive and seek to intimidate those providing and receiving gender-affirming care.” 

Since taking office, the Trump Administration has attempted to end lawful medical care that it disfavors. On day one, President Trump issued an Executive Order declaring gender identity a “false” idea. A week later, the President issued another Executive Order attempting to strip federal funding from institutions that provide lifesaving gender-affirming care for young people under the age of 19, with the ultimate goal of ending all gender-affirming care for adolescents. In April, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo directing U.S. DOJ to investigate healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies that engage in gender affirming care.

On June 11, U.S. DOJ sent BCH an administrative subpoena, seeking information and documents relating to the hospital’s provision of gender-affirming care. This subpoena sought a broad range of highly sensitive and confidential records related to both patients and providers. For example, U.S. DOJ is seeking personnel records for nearly all BCH employees and extensive patient records, such as their social security numbers and home addresses.

On September 9, a federal judge voided U.S. DOJ’s subpoena in its entirety, ruling that it was clearly an attempt to interfere with Massachusetts’s right to protect gender-affirming care within its borders and to intimidate BCH and its patients from providing and seeking gender-affirming care. The Trump Administration has now filed a motion for the Court to set aside its ruling.

In their brief, the attorneys general urge the court to uphold its prior ruling quashing U.S. DOJ’s subpoena. They argue that:

• The federal government is clearly seeking to intimidate medical providers from offering critical and medically necessary care to transgender youth, even in states like California where such care is legal and protected.
• As part of this subpoena request, for the first time ever, U.S. DOJ is interpreting the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) as outlawing medical providers from prescribing FDA approved medications to their patients for off label use. If U.S. DOJ’s interpretation of the FDCA were accepted, entire fields of medicine could see their practitioners at risk of criminal conviction merely for offering routine, evidence-based treatments. As the amicus brief points out, some studies estimate that as much as 80% of drugs prescribed for children are prescribed for off-label uses. 

The states submitting today’s brief have enacted their own laws, policies, and protections for transgender residents, including transgender youth under the age of 19. California has enacted laws recognizing the right to access gender-affirming care and shielding people who access or provide gender-affirming care from civil or criminal penalties by out-of-state jurisdictions. 

Joining Attorney General Bonta in submitting the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

A copy of the amicus brief can be foud here. 

OAKLAND — Alongside Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit supporting Planned Parenthood in its challenge to the Trump Administration’s unlawful efforts to defund its health centers. The Defund Provision, enacted as part of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill Act, blocks federal Medicaid funding for essential medical services such as cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing, and wellness exams provided at “prohibited entities.” The criteria for a “prohibited entity” were crafted so that this Defund Provision applies almost exclusively to Planned Parenthood, fulfilling a long-standing goal by Republicans of punishing Planned Parenthood for providing and advocating in support of abortion care. California Planned Parenthoods provide care to nearly one million people annually, and over 80% of Planned Parenthood patients in California rely on Medi-Cal programs to access healthcare. The Defund Provision is already having impacts in California. Planned Parenthood locations have closed altogether and others are limiting services.  

“The Trump Administration’s assault on healthcare, which includes reproductive care, knows no bounds. Right now, the federal government remains shut down because Republicans refuse to act to stop Americans’ monthly premiums from skyrocketing. At the same time, we cannot lose sight of how disastrous the Defund Provision will be for the loss of vital healthcare services that Planned Parenthood and other health centers provide,” said Attorney General Bonta. “My fellow attorneys general and I have filed our own lawsuit against the provision, and we are now continuing to show our unyielding support for the lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood. The Trump Administration says that it wants to Make America Healthy Again, but its actions repeatedly tell a far different story. We cannot, and will not, remain silent.”

Attorney General Bonta joined a coalition of 23 states in July in suing the Trump Administration over the Defund Provision and filed a motion for a preliminary injunction last month. That case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Planned Parenthood also filed a parallel challenge, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. v. Kennedy, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In that case, the District Court preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the Defund Provision, concluding that Planned Parenthood had demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on their claims that the Defund Provision violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection clause, as well as the prohibition on Bills of Attainder in the U.S. Constitution. On September 11, 2025, the First Circuit issued an unpublished order granting the Trump Administration’s request to allow the Defund Provision to go into effect. The brief filed today supports Planned Parenthood’s request for a preliminary injunction, providing the First Circuit with additional evidence of the irreparable injury that implementation of the Defund Provision would have on the amici States and their citizens.

Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare in the United States. As the brief states, because many other providers elect not to accept Medicaid patients, Planned Parenthood is often one of the only providers of reproductive healthcare services in rural and underserved areas. In fiscal year 2023 to 2024, Planned Parenthood provided 9.45 million services across the country, including 425,000 cancer screening and prevention services, 2.2 million contraceptive services, 4.1 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, as well as primary care visits, pregnancy tests, and prenatal services. Of those 9.45 million services, Planned Parenthood provided approximately 400,000 abortion services, a small fraction of the services provided to patients. Planned Parenthood receives no federal funding for abortion care.

The brief states that other providers do not have the capacity to handle the high volume of patients that Planned Parenthood health centers currently treat. If additional Planned Parenthood health centers are forced to close, other providers would have to increase their caseloads by 28% to more than 100%, if they choose to accept the patients at all. State budgets are limited, and using state funds to fully reimburse Planned Parenthood for all Medicaid services would strain state finances at a time where states are already dealing with unprecedented levels of federal funding cuts. For California, that would require $328 million.

The brief was co-led by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, and New York and joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the brief can be found here. 

Group co-founded by Stephen Miller advancing previously rejected evidence and arguments

Citizenship documentation requirement would be unlawful, create substantial and costly burdens on state and local officials 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today led a coalition of 19 attorneys general in opposing a petition that the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) — an independent, bipartisan, four-member body established by Congress — commence rulemaking to impose a documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) requirement on the Federal Mail-In Voter Registration Form (Federal Form). On August 21, 2025, the EAC requested comments on the petition, which was filed by the America First Legal Foundation (AFL). AFL describes itself as a nonprofit law firm and was co-founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in 2021. On March 25, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order No. 14248 (Executive Order), an unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American attempt to impose sweeping voting restrictions, including imposing DPOC on the Federal Form. Attorney General Bonta is currently leading a multistate coalition in suing the Trump Administration over the Executive Order, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has blocked the Executive Order’s mandate for DPOC from taking effect. AFL’s petition represents another attempt to impose DPOC on the Federal Form. The deadline to provide public comment on AFL’s petition is this coming Monday, October 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT.

“I’ve said repeatedly that voting is the fundamental right from which all other rights flow. I believe that at my core, and it’s why I’m proud to oppose yet another effort that would add — rather than remove — barriers to voter registration,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Despite claims to the contrary, our elections are secure: Voting by non-citizens is exceedingly rare, and the penalties for non-citizen registration remain serious under both federal and state law. My fellow attorneys general and I remain fully committed to protecting voters’ fundamental right to cast a ballot and defending against the relentless attacks on the right.” 

In the letter, the attorneys general underscore that:

• AFL’s petition raises evidence and arguments substantially similar to those previously considered and rejected by the EAC on multiple occasions. Reversal of those reasoned decisions by the EAC, based on the AFL’s petition for rulemaking, would therefore result in an unlawful and arbitrary agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
• The DPOC requirement that AFL is seeking violates federal law. The specific contents of the Federal Form are governed by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), a federal law that limits the content of the Federal Form to address only what is “necessary” for state election officials to determine the eligibility of prospective voters. Because the inclusion of DPOC is not “necessary” — attestation of citizenship, backed by criminal and immigration penalties, along with the various tools available to states to cross-check citizenship, adequately serves this purpose — it violates the NVRA.
• The adverse effects of requiring DPOC cut strongly against the petition for rulemaking. Imposition of a DPOC requirement on the Federal Form would create substantial and costly burdens on the state and local officials who administer federal elections. Moreover, a requirement for DPOC would inevitably disenfranchise large swaths of otherwise eligible voters who lack ready access to the type of documentation contemplated in the petition.

In submitting today’s comment letter, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

A copy of the comment letter can be found here.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement in response to the indictment of former National Security Advisor John Bolton:

“President Trump is continuing to use the power of the U.S. Department of Justice to punish his ‘enemies’ and reward his friends. In the process, he has so damaged the integrity and undermined the independence of the Department that now, with the indictment of John Bolton, it is impossible to tell whether the prosecution is warranted or whether it is based on the President’s personal desire for vengeance.

With three indictments in as many weeks, we cannot become desensitized to what is happening. The President of the United States has demanded the prosecution of individuals he dislikes as political retribution. And the U.S. Department of Justice, under U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, has capitulated.

This is not normal, and we cannot accept it as such.”

BACKGROUND

As California's top lawyer and law enforcement official, Attorney General Bonta has continued to defend against President Trump’s use and abuse of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (U.S. DOJ) prosecutorial power to reward his friends and punish his perceived enemies. Earlier this week, Attorney General Bonta joined a multistate coalition in seeking to intervene in the $14 billion Hewitt Packard Enterprises (HPE)/Juniper Networks merger while the merits of the settlement are evaluated by a judge amid allegations of backroom dealings after U.S. DOJ abruptly moved to settle the merger. 

Following the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Attorney General Bonta demanded that U.S. Attorney General Bondi reassert U.S. DOJ's long-standing independence and immediately end all politically-motivated criminal prosecutions. Attorney General Bonta also sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Bondi expressing grave concern with the apparently politically-influenced indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California temporarily blocking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s demand that states turn over personal and sensitive information about millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. This July, Attorney General Bonta filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration alleging that this demand violates multiple federal laws and the U.S. Constitution. 

“Let’s be crystal clear: The President is trying to hijack a nutrition program to fuel his mass surveillance agenda,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We won’t let that happen — not on our watch, and not in our communities. The Trump Administration can try all it wants to strong arm states into illegally handing over data, but we know the rule of law is on our side. We will continue to vigorously litigate this lawsuit and defend our communities, protect privacy, and ensure that SNAP remains a tool for fighting hunger — not a weapon for political targeting.”

SNAP is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food assistance to tens of millions of low-income families across the country. SNAP applicants provide their private information on the understanding, backed by long-standing state and federal laws, that their information will not be used for unrelated purposes. In an attempt to bully states into compliance, USDA has repeatedly threatened to withhold administrative funding for the program if states fail to comply with its unprecedented demand for data — effectively forcing states to choose between protecting their residents’ privacy and providing critical nutrition assistance to those in need. California receives over $1 billion a year to administer the program, and any delay in that funding could be catastrophic for the state and its residents who rely on SNAP to put food on the table.

A copy of the order is available here.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general from the states of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, to issue a joint statement condemning the Trump administration’s retaliatory prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James:

“We resoundingly denounce the Trump administration’s retaliatory prosecution of our colleague, New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Since a New York State judge found Donald Trump liable for years of business fraud and illegal dealings in a case led by Attorney General James, Mr. Trump has repeatedly broadcast his desire to arrest and prosecute her. Mr. Trump has now done just that — demanding an indictment of Attorney General James even though the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert resigned rather than seeking an indictment. 

None of us, whether our states’ top legal officials or members of the public, should stand idly by while justice is upended and this president uses the criminal legal system to pursue his personal vendettas. The Trump-directed arms of the executive branch have arrested a sitting member of Congress, charged the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and criminally investigated a governor of the Federal Reserve, among other retaliatory and politically motivated pursuits. These kinds of prosecutorial abuses are the hallmarks of police states and authoritarian regimes — not America’s democracy.  

We stand in solidarity with Attorney General James and others who have been targeted for reasons wholly antithetical to the pursuit of justice. We commit to doing all we can to ensure that the rule of law prevails and to resist the further corrosion of our system of justice.”

Asks court to consider the experiences of Los Angeles to prevent harm to Chicago 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta, 20 other attorneys general, and three states this weekend filed an amicus brief in support of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in response to the Trump Administration’s attempt to block emergency relief granted to Illinois — relief that temporarily prevents the Trump Administration’s illegal federalization of the Illinois National Guard and the deployment of federalized National Guard troops from other states. On October 7, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom filed an amicus brief in support of Attorney General Raoul’s request for emergency relief to block President Trumps illegal use of power. On October 9, the court granted this emergency relief to Illinois. The Trump Administration’s campaign to militarize America’s cities began in California, where in early June, President Trump seized control of California National Guard troops and deployed them to conduct civilian law enforcement activities throughout Southern California. As California has experienced since the National Guard was federalized without Governor Newsom’s consent four months ago, a continuous military presence in American communities violates state sovereignty and the police powers reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; harms local economies; undermines public safety; and damages troop morale. In the amicus brief, which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the attorneys general argue that immediate court intervention via emergency order is necessary to protect Chicago communities from experiencing that same harm.  

“The President continues to deploy an unprecedented amount of force against our cities and people, and it comes at a tremendous cost. As California demonstrated during our own trial — and as the city of Los Angeles has experienced over the last four months — the illegal militarization of American cities terrorizes our residents, drains our troops, and tanks our local economies,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I stand with Attorney General Raoul and ask the court to reject the Trump Administration’s effort to throw out an order demanding them to halt their illegal militarization of communities in Illinois. The escalating use of American communities as a training ground for the military must stop now.” 

President Trump’s federalization of Illinois’ National Guard and deployment of Texas’ and California’s federalized National Guard into Illinois is unlawful — and an attack on our nation’s foundational principle of keeping the military out of civilian affairs. In the amicus brief, the attorneys general argue that the President’s unlawful and unconstitutional use of the military has exacerbated, rather than calmed, tensions in our communities, while threatening activity protected by the First Amendment. Dangerously, the President’s actions undermine the role of local law enforcement and violate state sovereignty by sending federalized troops into our communities against the will of state leaders. The coalition also makes clear their interest in ensuring that their National Guards are available to perform the essential services needed within their states. 

During a three-day trial in August, California provided ample evidence that the unwanted presence of military troops heightens tensions in communities, undermining trust between local law enforcement and the communities they serve and requiring local law enforcement to deploy additional resources to maintain public safety. Moreover, while local police have training, experience, and systems to handle crowd control, protests, and other civil duties, National Guard troops are trained for combat and are not trained in criminal procedure, civil rights, and de-escalation techniques. This introduces complications and dangers to both the public and the troops engaging with them.

Militarization of communities creates an atmosphere of fear that can inflict lasting damage to states’ economies, with residents afraid to report to work and avoiding areas where the military is deployed. The ongoing military presence in downtown Los Angeles, for example, has sharply decreased consumer activity and harmed businesses so severely that some may never recover. Chicago can expect to face similar economic devastation if the court does not intervene.   

In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia, as well as the states of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. 

A copy of the amicus brief is available here.

BACKGROUND

Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding President Trump and his Administration accountable for overreaching their authority under the law and infringing on Californians’ constitutional rights. In June, Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful orders to federalize the California National Guard and utilize National Guard troops and the Marines for civilian law enforcement in Los Angeles in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. That same week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted California emergency relief, blocking the federalization order and returning command of the California National Guard to Governor Newsom; that order is currently stayed by the Ninth Circuit pending appeal.  

In August, the Attorney General’s Office presented evidence of Posse Comitatus Act violations during a three-day trial before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Court subsequently granted a permanent injunction enjoining the Trump Administration from engaging in the same or similar activity in the future. The Court’s order is temporarily paused while the Ninth Circuit considers the federal government’s motion for a stay.  

Last week, Attorney General Bonta joined Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield in asking for, and subsequently securing, an order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon blocking the Trump Administration’s deployment of federalized California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. Attorney General Bonta has previously supported Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to their cities. 

OAKLAND — Following the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today demanded that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi reassert the long-standing independence of the U.S. Department of Justice and immediately end all politically-motivated criminal prosecutions. In a strongly worded letter, Attorney General Bonta reminded U.S. Attorney General Bondi that prosecutors have a solemn responsibility to wield power in a fair and impartial manner, always driven by the facts and the law. According to public reports, senior career attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice and the then-acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, believed the case against Attorney General James was weak and did not merit presentation to a grand jury. Still, President Donald Trump engaged in a public pressure campaign against Attorney General James, culminating in yesterday’s indictment by a federal grand jury in Virginia.

“The indictment against my esteemed colleague, New York Attorney General Letitia James, should send chills down all of our spines,” said Attorney General Bonta. “President Trump is actively targeting those he views as his enemies, and the U.S. Department of Justice is blindly doing his bidding. Yesterday, it was Attorney General James, and two weeks ago, it was former FBI Director James Comey. Who will be the next target tomorrow? In a democracy, we should never have to ask that question. I’m urging U.S. Attorney General Bondi to do the right thing: Protect the U.S. Department of Justice’s independence.”

Attorney General Bonta previously sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Bondi in the wake of the apparently politically-influenced indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. In today’s letter, Attorney General Bonta writes that: 

• Attorney General James has exercised her duties with the utmost fidelity to the Constitution. That fidelity led her to pursue legitimate claims of financial fraud against President Trump and his business organization under New York State law. Those claims were brought to a New York state court, which in a civil judgment, affirmed Attorney General James’ charges.
• Yesterday’s indictment, and the so-called investigation that preceded it, is retribution for the work Attorney General James did to hold President Trump accountable for his unlawful conduct.
• Politically motivated prosecutions have no place in our system of justice. They erode the faith Americans should have in their public servants and run contrary to the rule of law. 

A copy of the letter can be found here.

Since the Ninth Circuit first stayed the lower court’s order blocking the federalization of the California National Guard in June, facts have significantly changed undermining the Trump Administration’s arguments 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta presented new evidence to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that seriously undermines the Trump Administration’s arguments for the federalization of the California National Guard. Since President Trump first unlawfully federalized California National Guard troops in early June, the Trump Administration has dramatically broadened its efforts to use these troops beyond the Los Angeles area, and for activities unrelated to protecting federal personnel and buildings. In new filings, Attorney General Bonta highlights that the instances of civil unrest in Los Angeles that purportedly gave rise to the deployment have subsided; that the Trump Administration has deployed members of the National Guard for routine law enforcement operations far from Los Angeles in ways that have nothing to do with the original basis for their deployment; and that the Administration planned to send all of the remaining Guard members to Portland, Oregon, and just yesterday, sent members to Chicago, Illinois — moves that cannot be reconciled with the Administration’s assertions about the harm it would suffer without California National Guard boots on the ground in the Los Angeles area. In light of these major changes, the Ninth Circuit should lift its stay of the district court’s injunction.

“President Trump is seeking to deploy the California National Guard as his own personal, traveling police force —  indefinitely, anywhere in the country. This is a far cry from what the Ninth Circuit considered back in June when the Administration claimed it would suffer serious harm if the National Guard were not available in Los Angeles. The Administration’s recent actions in Portland and Chicago entirely undermine any basis for a continued stay of the order blocking federalization,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I urge the Ninth Circuit to vacate its earlier stay order in light of the dramatically different landscape today — and the President’s clear intent to use and abuse the military domestically. The escalating use of American communities as a training ground for the military must stop now.” 

“As a co-equal branch of government, the courts need to be the counterbalance to Trump’s authoritarian lunacy,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “Instead of fighting a non-existent conflict for the President, our servicemembers deserve to be at home with their families and back to civilian life.”

FEDERALIZATION ORDER

In June, Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful orders to federalize the California National Guard and utilize National Guard troops for civilian law enforcement in Los Angeles, in violation of federal statutes and constitutional limitations. That same week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted California emergency relief, blocking the federalization order and returning command of the California National Guard to Governor Newsom; that order is currently stayed by the Ninth Circuit pending appeal.   

In a new motion, Attorney General Bonta lays out the case for why circumstances today are fundamentally different than when the Ninth Circuit first issued its stay back in June. Not long after the court entered its stay order, the Trump Administration began deploying members of the National Guard to areas far from Los Angeles on missions that had nothing to do with the original basis for federalizing the Guard. The Trump Administration also issued an order extending the federalization from its initial 60-day period to 150 days, even while acknowledging that there was little, if any, remaining security risk to federal personnel and property in Los Angeles.   

More recently, President Trump has expressed a desire to use Democratic cities as a “training ground” for the military, abandoning his pretense that these troops are necessary to quell any sort of chaos or unrest. After his effort to federalize the Oregon National Guard was blocked by a court in Oregon, the Trump Administration transported hundreds of the federalized California National Guard troops to Portland. The district court in Oregon called the Administration’s action a “direct contravention” of the prior court order and, at the request of the States of Oregon and California, issued a second order prohibiting the Administration from deploying federalized members of the National Guard in Oregon.  

The ever-expanding mission of California’s federalized National Guard troops bears no resemblance to what the Ninth Circuit provisionally upheld in June. And it is causing irreparable harm to California, to the nation’s democratic traditions, and to the rule of law. Attorney General Bonta respectfully asks the Ninth Circuit to vacate its earlier stay and allow the district court’s temporary restraining order blocking the federalization of these troops to go into effect, or in the alternative, he asks for the Ninth Circuit to block the federalization order and return the National Guard to the Governor’s command. 

A copy of the motion is available here. 

POSSE COMITATUS ACT

In a separate letter, Attorney General Bonta alerts the Ninth Circuit to developments showing why the Court should lift a stay of a separate trial court order blocking the Administration from further violations of the Posse Comitatus Act. 

In August, the Attorney General’s Office presented evidence of Posse Comitatus Act violations during a three-day trial before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Court subsequently granted a permanent injunction enjoining the Trump Administration from engaging in the same or similar activity in the future. The Court’s order is temporarily paused while the Ninth Circuit considers the federal government’s motion for a stay.   

In their motion for a stay, the Trump Administration argued that “National Guard members who remain in Los Angeles continue to play an important role in protecting federal personnel and property . . . and the district court’s injunction threatens their ability to serve that function.” Yet, the Trump Administration made clear its plans to order all 300 federalized California National Guard members to Portland, Oregon. In doing so, it clearly demonstrated that there is no pressing need for the troops in Los Angeles. Attorney General Bonta urges the Ninth Circuit to lift its administrative stay forthwith and deny defendants’ motion for a stay pending appeal.  

A copy of the letter is available here. 

AMICUS BRIEFS 

Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding President Trump and his Administration accountable for overreaching their authority under the law and infringing on Californians’ constitutional rights. Attorney General Bonta has previously supported Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to their cities.