Judge orders an inquiry into potential DOJ misconduct in Trump's golf course case
WASHINGTON, D.C. —
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Judge → order → case
A federal judge is launching a formal inquiry into potential misconduct by Trump administration officials in the lawsuit over East Potomac Park, including whether they repeatedly misrepresented the president's plans for the municipal D.C. golf course.
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they → launch → course
District Judge Ana Reyes ordered Friday's hearing — the third in as many weeks — to seek clarity from government lawyers days after they acknowledged in writing Wednesday that there is a plan to transform the municipal golf course into a championship-level venue, closing it and much of the surrounding park in mid-November.
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they → order → November
For months, Justice Department attorneys representing the Interior Department and National Park Service had maintained in court filings and hearings that such a plan was not yet final, despite President Trump's social media statements proclaiming otherwise.
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plan → represent → statements
Their abrupt confirmation on Wednesday night prompted Reyes to call both sides back into court, just days after she ordered a halt to tree-clearing and major renovations at the park (which the government promptly appealed).
Reyes opened Friday's hearing by quoting the D.C. Bar Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3, which prohibits lawyers from knowingly making or failing to correct false statements to the court. She asked
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She → prompt → court
Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr., who is leading the government's defense,
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who → lead → defense
whether there was anything he would like to correct
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he → be → ?
"Not to my knowledge," Woodward said, explaining that he hasn't read every transcript in the case.
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he → say → case
"We have lots of binders," he said, to which Reyes replied: "I bet you do."
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you → have → which
Over the next four hours, Reyes grilled Woodward about the timing and status of the administration's renovation plans.
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Reyes → grill → plans
She demanded to know whether officials had not been truthful when they told her last Monday that they were not aware of the park closure that Trump had posted about that same morning.
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Trump → demand → morning
Reyes called the lawyers' claims into doubt for two main reasons.
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Reyes → call → reasons
Government lawyers acknowledged for the first time in their Wednesday filing that the administration is closing the park next month, both for golf course renovations and to address the man-made peninsula's crumbling seawall.
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administration → acknowledge → seawall
And they said in court that they submitted those renovation plans to the National Capital Planning Commission for review on Friday.
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they → say → Friday
Under questioning, Woodward told the judge that the submission had been in the works for several weeks.
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submission → tell → weeks
But, as Reyes fired back incredulously, no one from the government mentioned that in the previous hearings, one of which lasted seven hours.
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one → fire → which
"Am I to understand that for weeks someone has been putting pen to paper on a submission to design the golf course … while this litigation was ongoing, while Department of Justice employees were representing to me that there was no plan?" she said.
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she → understand → me
The hearing ended with Reyes announcing that she would "open a formal inquiry into whether agency officials and employees, including agency attorneys and [Justice Department] attorneys, have made misrepresentations to the court and otherwise violated applicable ethical rules."
Reyes said that inquiry may be led by a special master, whom she has not yet appointed but described as a judicial officer with "full investigatory powers."
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she → end → powers
Reyes said if the government rejects her special master, she will conduct the inquiry herself.
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she → say → inquiry
Reyes stressed that the opening of an investigation does not mean that the court has found or will find evidence that any government lawyers have violated their professional obligations.
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lawyers → stress → obligations
But the relatively unusual move suggests that the judge is finished taking the administration at its word, as she said she has done since local historic preservation advocates and golfers first filed suit in February.
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advocates → suggest → February
The legal fight kicked into high gear earlier this month when the Trump administration cut down hundreds of trees with less than a day's notice.
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administration → kick → notice
Officials have denied that the tree-clearing was part of a broader plan to renovate the golf course, but Reyes called it a pretext for beginning work without proper approvals.
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Reyes → deny → approvals
On Friday, she also ordered the government officials to preserve all relevant documents so the "court can conduct an inquiry without the loss of evidence.
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court → order → evidence
"Trial lawyers sometimes tell juries, 'Trust but verify,'" Reyes said from the bench on Friday.
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Reyes → tell → Friday
"For months, the court trusted, but did not verify.
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court → trust → months
The judge wants to know where it came from
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it → want → where
On Monday, Reyes extended her ban on further tree removal and required the government to provide 10 days' written notice before closing or irreversibly modifying East Potomac, which the administration quickly appealed.
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administration → extend → which
She issued a blistering 70-page opinion in which she said the case had become about much more than golf.
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case → issue → golf
"Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president," Reyes wrote.
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Reyes → urge → president
Within hours of Reyes' ruling, Trump took to social media to double down on his plan to start renovations in November, saying Reyes "has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project."
In response, Reyes scheduled Friday's hearing and ordered the government — including Woodward specifically — to "come prepared to state" whether it continues to maintain that there is no final plan, among other details.
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it → take → details
But the reply came even sooner, in a Justice Department filing Wednesday night.
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reply → come → filing
Government lawyers said the National Park Service would submit a plan Friday to the National Capital Planning Commission to review "a rendering designed by Tom Fazio for a World Class, championship-level golf course that is capable of hosting major events.
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that → say → events
And they said they would soon "close East Potomac Park south of Buckeye Drive, including the Golf Course, consistent with the President's directive."
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they → say → directive
The filing says the National Park Service entered into a new lease agreement with the National Links Trust — the nonprofit that operates the golf course — on Wednesday.
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that → say → Wednesday
Under that new agreement, which was confirmed by the National Links Trust, the organization will continue to operate D.C.'s other two municipal golf courses under a 50-year lease, but cease operations at East Potomac "as of close of business on or before November 15."
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organization → confirm → November
Reyes spent most of the hearing questioning Woodward, the third-highest-ranking official at the Justice Department.
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Reyes → spend → Department
At one point, Reyes accused Woodward of "playing games with words" at last week's hearing and said she refused to do so again.
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she → accuse → hearing
Later, when Woodward characterized Trump's Truth Social announcements as a matter of executive privilege, Reyes erupted: "He posted it!"
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He → characterize → it
One particularly protracted back-and-forth focused on whether Trump's Truth Social posts announcing the golf course's forthcoming closure constituted "plans."
Woodward said that Trump's posts are similar to executive orders, directing an agency to take an action but not guaranteeing it will actually occur.
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it → focus → action
…and 24 more, not listed.
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