A federal judge in Washington on Friday, October 30, opened a formal inquiry into whether Trump administration officials and Justice Department lawyers misled her about plans for East Potomac Golf Links, two days after the government disclosed a plan for a new championship course.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she would examine whether "agency officials and employees, including agency attorneys and [Justice Department] attorneys, have made misrepresentations to the court," OPB reported. She stressed that opening the inquiry is not a finding that any lawyer broke professional rules. "For months, the court trusted, but did not verify. No longer," she said.
What changed in two days
On Wednesday, October 28, government lawyers filed a notice acknowledging a plan to turn the public course into a championship venue. The filing pointed to a Tom Fazio rendering of a new championship course and said the park south of Buckeye Drive, golf course included, would be closed in line with the president's directive. The Park Service planned to send the design to the federal planning commission that Friday.
That was a reversal. Interior and Justice Department lawyers had repeatedly told Reyes there was no finalized plan for the course, CBS News reported, including earlier in October, while the president was posting about one.
What the inquiry will look at
Based on the hearing reports, the inquiry has three parts. One is whether the government filed its notice of the October tree removal in bad faith. That notice came just before 5 p.m. on a Friday, and crews cut hundreds of trees over the holiday weekend that followed. The second is whether lawyers told officials, including acting Park Service Director Jessica Bowron, to leave information out of or add it to sworn declarations. The third is whether the department's statements about the renovation plans were accurate.
Reyes plans to run the inquiry herself with help from a special master with "full investigatory powers," and gave the Justice Department five days to object to that appointment, CBS reported. She also ordered officials to preserve relevant documents. She pressed Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward on whether he had anything to correct. He replied, "Not to my knowledge," and said "we would never violate the court's order." Reyes accused him of "playing games with words" at an earlier hearing.
Our read: why an inquiry is unusual
Judges have several tools when they suspect a lawyer misled them. They can ask for sanctions motions from the other side, refer lawyers to disciplinary bodies, or open their own inquiry using the court's inherent power over the lawyers who appear before it. Reyes chose the last and most direct route, and she added a preservation order before anyone has been accused of anything. In our reading, that sequence matters. A preservation order means emails and drafts of the declarations stay available, which is exactly the evidence that would show whether lawyers shaped what officials swore to.
Timeline since our last report
October 26: Reyes issues a preliminary injunction barring more tree removal and requiring 10 business days of notice before irreparable changes to the park. We covered that ruling in Judge Bars More Tree Cutting at East Potomac Golf Course.
October 28: The government files notice of the Fazio plan and its intent to close the park south of Buckeye Drive.
October 30: Reyes opens the misconduct inquiry. Woodward says no November 15 closing is set for now, and that the government has given notice of its intent to close under the 10 day rule.
November 15: The last day the course operator, National Links Trust, expects to run East Potomac.
The seawall and the money
The government also cites a deteriorating seawall as a separate reason to close a larger part of the park. Bowron said the seawalls have "been compromised," and Woodward estimated repairs at $150 million to $400 million, OPB reported. He gave no estimate for the golf renovation. The administration has appealed Reyes's orders to the D.C. Circuit.
President Trump has said Reyes "has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project." The inquiry adds to a run of clashes between federal judges and administration lawyers in Washington, including the separate fight over the planned triumphal arch at Memorial Circle, and the court order that halted taxpayer funded DHS ads.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
