Trump-appointed judges let troops into Portland (Live with Harry Litman)

Stay tethered to the facts.

A three-judge panel dominated by Donald Trump appointees allowed the National Guard to be sent into Portland, Ore., inspiring a dissent urging the full Ninth Circuit to stop the deployment immediately.

“I urge my colleagues on this court to act swiftly to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Susan Graber, a Bill Clinton appointee.

Graber was calling for the immediate intervention of the full Ninth Circuit bench to block the troop deployment, which could be imminent, adding that a crisis of faith in the federal judiciary itself is on the line.

“Above all, I ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little longer,” Graber wrote.

“Chicken suits, inflatable frog costumes, or nothing at all”

During a 40-minute conversation, ex-U.S. Attorney

Harry Litman

and I noted that those are incredibly strong words for a jurist with nearly 30 years of experience on the federal bench.

Her colleagues, Ryan D. Nelson and Bridget S. Bade, paused a ruling by fellow Trump appointee U.S. District Judge Susan Immergut, who excoriated the basis for sending the troops into Portland as “untethered to the facts.”

Possible action item:

Thousands of people have called lawmakers on 5 Calls, and the third most popular topic on the app last week was “Stop the Deployment of US Military to Police Americans.”

Overruling her findings, Nelson and Bade found that there was “colorable basis” for finding that civil unrest left the government “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”

Dissenting Judge Graber found that proposition beyond “absurd.”

“Given Portland protesters’ well-known penchant for wearing chicken suits, inflatable frog costumes, or nothing at all when expressing their disagreement with the methods employed by ICE, observers may be tempted to view the majority’s ruling, which accepts the government’s characterization of Portland as a war zone, as merely absurd,” Graber wrote. “But today’s decision is not merely absurd. It erodes core constitutional principles, including sovereign States’ control over their States’ militias and the people’s First Amendment rights to assemble and to object to the government’s policies and actions. I strenuously dissent.”