Attorney General Bonta Issues Statement on President Trump’s Troubling Attacks on the Rule of Law and U.S. Constitution

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s troubling attacks on the rule of law and U.S. Constitution: 

“More than two centuries ago, our

founding fathers established three co-equal branches of government; each branch designed to act as a check on the others and curb the misuse of power by those in higher office. Today, that foundational tenet of American democracy is being stress-tested.  

The Trump Administration has repeatedly attempted to exercise authority it does not have – authority that belongs to Congress or the states – and in doing so, violated clear legal requirements set forth in the law and in the U.S. Constitution. These actions have required the co-equal judicial branch to order the Trump Administration to follow the law. At times, the Trump Administration has acted in contravention of those court orders. 

These actions are both unlawful and dangerous. Our constitutional democracy rests upon a legal system in which attorneys dutifully represent their clients, facts and law are presented to judges, and after careful consideration, those judges issue orders that must be followed. 

Attacks to undermine due process, discredit or intimidate our independent judiciary, undercut state sovereignty, or seek retribution against those who dare exercise their First Amendment right to take positions different from – or in opposition to – the President are either unlawful, inconsistent with the foundational principles of our American legal system, or both. 

President Trump’s demands for the co-equal judiciary to capitulate to the executive branch are not normal. His decree threatening sanctions and retaliation against attorneys and law firms he dislikes is not normal. These actions threaten the very foundations of our democracy, legal system, and the rule of law.  

We must continue to speak up and push back when our democratic norms are violated, our legal system undermined, and our laws broken. We must hold the President and his Administration accountable to the Constitution they swore to uphold. As California Attorney General, I promise I will.”