Judge launches inquiry into possible misrepresentations by Justice and Interior officials in D.C. golf course case
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U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes has ordered a formal investigation, with a special master, into whether officials from the Justice and Interior departments misled the court and breached ethics rules during litigation over President Trump’s plan to renovate East Potomac Golf Links.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes announced on Friday that she will conduct a formal inquiry into whether officials and lawyers from the Justice Department and the Department of the Interior misrepresented facts to the court and violated ethical standards in a case concerning President Trump’s proposal to overhaul the historic East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. The judge will lead the examination herself, assisted by a special master, a neutral arbiter, to assess several allegations of misconduct.
Reyes said she will review whether a notice filed about the removal of trees at the golf course was submitted in bad faith, after Justice Department lawyers informed the court of the felling only hours before crews began cutting down hundreds of trees. She will also investigate whether government lawyers directed acting National Park Service director Jessica Bowron to omit information from a declaration about the renovation plans, and whether they instructed Kevin Griess, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, to include specific budgetary details in another declaration.
The inquiry will further examine statements made by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who told the court that the administration intended to close all of East Potomac Park, including the golf course, a surrounding road and recreation area, by Nov. 15. Woodward also submitted a rendering of a new course designed by architect Tom Fazio to the National Capital Planning Commission.
Reyes has not yet appointed the special master and has given the Justice Department five days to object to the appointment. She emphasized that no finding of wrongdoing has been made; the proceeding is solely to determine whether misconduct occurred.
The case was filed by a local preservation league and two golfers challenging the administration’s renovation plans for the course, which has operated since the 1920s. While Interior and Justice officials have repeatedly told the court that no final plan exists, President Trump announced on his social media platform that the Interior Department and Fazio have developed a plan to build a "World Class Championship Golf Course" and that work would begin on Nov. 15, when the course is slated to close.
During the hearing, Reyes repeatedly questioned Woodward about the president’s declarations and sought clarification on what the administration knew about the closure plan. Earlier in the week, she issued an order barring the administration from cutting down additional trees at East Potomac while the case proceeds.