Trump’s Portland crackdown is bad enough. Judge has plan to make it worse.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily.

Two judges appointed by President Donald Trump allowed him to deploy the National Guard into Portland, Oregon, on Monday, granting the executive branch sweeping authority to suppress peaceful protests based on false claims of widespread violence. The 2–1 decision from the 9 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rested on a credulous reading of the record: The majority largely accepted the administration’s portrayal of Portland as a “war zone,” dismissing the district court’s extensive findings to the contrary. As dissenting Judge Susan Graber pointed out, Trump’s “illegal deployment of troops” rests on “false pretenses,” “fabrication,” and “propaganda”—all “politica