Hickenlooper, Bennet, Colleagues Warn Federal Court of Continued Abuse of Military Deployments by Trump Administration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet recently joined 19 of their Senate colleagues to file an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Newsom v. Trump, the lawsuit brought against President Donald Trump for his misuse of the U.S. military earlier this year.

The State of California filed the lawsuit after President Trump deployed thousands of members of the California National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps to Los Angeles without legal justification or approval from state or local officials.

"President Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without consulting Congress or the governor. If this were really about safety, he would have followed the law. Instead, he's occupying our neighborhoods and making it harder for local law enforcement to do their jobs," said Hickenlooper.

"President Trump's unlawful decision to deploy the military in Los Angeles was a clear abuse of power and a blatant attempt to punish his political opponents. President Trump has stated his intent to continue unlawfully deploying state militias to other 'blue' cities. Our arguments to the Court are clear: this case must prevent the Trump administration from escalating its abuse of our military to control and intimidate those who oppose him," said Bennet.

In their amicus brief, Hickenlooper and the senators warn that President Trump may continue to abuse military deployment should the Court rule for the administration.

"Our concern that President Trump will continue to act in bad faith and abuse his power is borne out by his recent deployment of state militias to Washington, D.C. and his stated intent to deploy state militias in other 'blue' cities," the senators wrote.

Full text of the amicus brief is available HERE.

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