President Donald Trump was following federal law in ordering National Guard troops into Los Angeles without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and an appeals court made the right decision to postpone a block on his actions, former federal prosecutor Doug Burns said on Newsmax Sunday.
"There are specific statutes in Title X, of all places, that authorize a president to employ the National Guard over the objection [or] without the consent of a governor," Burns told Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
"So I think when they flesh it out in court, the government is going to be arguing those Title X sections very calmly and clearly," he added. The test is when there is civil unrest or a rebellion, and "there's a lot of evidence to support the notion that it was civil unrest," said Burns.
Still, the arguments may become moot if the Los Angeles protests die down as "there won't be anything to really litigate," he said.
Meanwhile, Newsom has argued that federalizing the National Guard would deprive his state of resources for emergencies, but Burns said the Democrat governor is "sort of dying on the wrong hill."
"Most people in the role of a juror are like, Why wouldn't you welcome the assistance of the federal government?" he said. "We know the reason because it's sort of an artificial move playing to a particular very liberal constituency out there. Where he runs into trouble is that he thinks he's going to be viable nationally. I think that's an uphill battle."
Burns also discussed the case of Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abergo Garcia, who has returned to the United States and entered a not guilty plea to charges of human smuggling.
"I looked through some of the documents," he said. 'They have, like, four or five cooperators, and that's really bad news for the defense always, who are specifically laying out all kinds of very specific information about involvement in smuggling."
Further, the car stop leading to the charges against Garcia provides further damaging evidence, including that there were nine people in the car without any identification or luggage, but Garcia had $1,400 in cash in his possession.
"You didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that that was probably almost undoubtedly a smuggling-type operation," Burns said. "I think they have a pretty strong case."
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.