California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who will become the Secretary of Health and Human Services next month, fired off a letter to the owners of Pacers Showgirls International and Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club, making it clear they have crossed the legal line.

The letter reads, “Specifically, the Regional Stay at Home Order requires that restaurants, including your clients’ restaurants, may continue to operate for carry-out and delivery services but may not offer indoor or outdoor dining or other services that cause people from different households to come into contact for extended periods of time and thereby increase the risk of transmission of COVID-19.”

We're told Becerra and his office were acting on behalf of orders from CA Governor Newsom and the California Dept. of Public Health ... aka they weren't carrying out the orders independently.

Now the threat ... “Therefore, MIDWAY AND F-12 are hereby ordered to cease and desist from operating in violation of the Regional Stay at Home Order.”

Becerra promises the State will go to court to shut the strip clubs down if they don't comply.

Fact is ... not all judges are sympathetic to the State. A Superior Court judge issued an injunction last month, siding with strip clubs that were prohibited from providing live entertainment under a public health order.