Following is a statement by Amb. (ret) Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, regarding U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut’s ruling late Sunday night that stopped the president from deploying the California National Guard to Portland.

“Judge Immergut’s decision is a loud rebuke to a president who seems determined to erase the rule of law. We’ve said all along that President Trump’s use of the National Guard is grossly unconstitutional and illegal. He does not get to invent facts or rewrite the Constitution and laws to suit his political goals.

“None of the legal bases for deploying the Guard exist here. There is no invasion, no rebellion, and no inability to execute our laws. There is also no justification for the inflammatory rhetoric Trump is using to try to deploy the military against civilians. This is about punishing his perceived enemies, creating chaos and exhausting us all so we acquiesce to authoritarianism. That will never happen because Americans love freedom.

“The fact that Trump tried to violate a court order by sending California troops to Portland after being blocked from using Oregon’s own National Guard is outrageous. It’s a transparent and dangerous attempt to trample the law and the Constitution.

“This is part of a broader pattern — from Portland to Chicago to Washington D.C. — of a president trying to intimidate the public. It’s a grave abuse of power, and it must be resisted by every American who believes in democracy.”

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.