Trump administration may have to hand over documents related to its use of troops in California

The Trump administration may need to hand over photos, internal reports and other documents related to its use of the California National Guard and military in Southern California amid its ongoing immigration enforcement efforts.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer is considering a discovery request from Gov. Gavin Newsom in the continuing legal battle over President Donald Trump’s federalization of the state’s National Guard and deployment of troops to Southern California, as large protests have broken out in opposition to the administration’s immigration operations.

In the discovery request, attorneys for the state said it would “largely be seeking discovery on enforcement actions that have already taken place and generalized instructions on authorized use of these federalized troops and Marines, rather than sensitive information specific to future federal law enforcement actions.”

The request said it seeks documents, internal reports, photos and “other such evidence related to the operations or practices” of the National Guard and military “in operations that are not taking place on federal property, but rather on the streets of communities in Southern California.”

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Attorneys for the state also said they wish to depose an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field officer who they alleged has “operational visibility into the military’s actions in California since the deployment as well as any continued ICE operations before or after the military was deployed,” as well as a major general who they said “has visibility and knowledge of orders issued to the troops on rules of engagement, the scope of the duties, and the nature of the deployment with ICE.”

Attorneys for the Trump administration objected to the discovery request on Wednesday, June 25, calling it “improper and substantively unjustified.”

They said the state has “lost this case, full stop, and this Court should read the writing on the wall and refuse to entertain the unbelievably broad and unnecessary requested discovery, including the request to depose two national security officials during defense operations.”

But attorneys for Newsom said the state needs that information to prove the Trump administration has allegedly acted beyond the scope of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits troops from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil.

Breyer, last week, asked both sides for briefings on whether the Posse Comitatus Act is being violated in Los Angeles.

Attorneys for the Trump administration also said that if any discovery were to take place, “expedition is unwarranted,” and the case should be transferred to the Central District of California. (It is now in the Northern District of California.)

Brett Shumate, an attorney for the Trump administration, told federal appeals judges last week that the National Guard is needed to protect federal buildings and agents in Los Angeles amid “ongoing violence.” Without the Guard, Shumate argued, properties and people would be at risk.

“The situation on the ground has not changed,” Shumate, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department, said.

Breyer, meanwhile, is weighing whether to issue a more durable preliminary injunction restricting what Trump can do with some 4,000 National Guard troops or 700 active-duty Marines his administration has also deployed into the city.

He previously granted a temporary restraining order, calling Trump’s federalization of the National Guard “illegal” and returning control over the troops to Newsom.

But a federal appeals court last week handed a win to Trump, unanimously concluding that conditions in the Los Angeles area were sufficient for the president to deploy the troops, allowing him to keep control.

Trump’s team has argued that the courts do not have a role in overturning Trump’s decision to federalize members of the California National Guard. Trump has used what’s called Title 10 — which allows the president to federalize the National Guard when the country “is invaded,” when “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the government,” or when the president is otherwise unable “to execute the laws of the United States” — as the basis for his actions.

Newsom, though, has vowed to continue to fight the administration’s use of the National Guard and Marines.

“The president is not a king and is not above the law,” he said Monday. “We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump’s authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.