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Biden’s Pentagon Spox Admits Trump Has Legal Authorization To Send National Guard To LA

[Screenshot/CNN]

Former Biden-era deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told CNN on Monday that President Donald Trump is legally authorized to deploy the National Guard to handle the Los Angeles riots.

Trump sent at least 2,000 National Guard troops to combat the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots, which have resulted in the burning of cars and attacks using Molotov cocktails and fireworks. As California state officials are taking legal action against Trump over the deployment, Singh said on “The Situation Room” that Trump did not overstep his power by deploying the troops.

“It is a legal use of the United States military. The president does have the authorization to do that. The difference here is the way he’s doing it is completely unprecedented,” Singh said. “Usually with an event like this, there’s coordination between the president and the governor of that state and the President of the United States. And the governor is usually requesting additional forces to come into his or her state to help with a response. That’s not what happened here.”

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The state of California, including Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom, sued the Trump administration on Monday to challenge the deployment of the National Guard. Rob Bonta, the state’s attorney general, called the president’s move “unnecessary and counterproductive,” despite nearly 1,000 rioters causing significant damage to Los Angeles.

The riots began on Friday after ICE raided a Home Depot in the city and arrested at least 44 illegal immigrants. Those arrested were convicted of second degree murder, attempted rape, sexual battery, assault with a deadly weapon and several other heinous crimes, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin in a statement accused Newsom and Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of being more dedicated to protecting “violent murderers and sex offenders” over their own citizens.

“Why do Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass care more about violent murderers and sex offenders than they do about protecting their own citizens?” McLaughlin said. “These rioters in Los Angeles are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets. Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer.”

Border czar Tom Homan vowed to NBC News on Sunday that the ICE raids will continue and that any government official who tries to obstruct their operation will be prosecuted. He clarified that while Newsom and Bass have not currently committed any crimes, they too could be subject to prosecution if they attempt to block federal agents from doing their job.

Trump told reporters on Monday that he would have Newsom arrested if he were Homan, stating that the California governor is a “nice guy” who is “grossly incompetent.” Newsom challenged Homan to arrest him during a Sunday interview with NBC News.