Judge opens inquiry into government conduct in Trump golf course case

A federal judge has opened a formal inquiry into whether government officials and lawyers misled her about plans to remake a public golf course in Washington, after the Justice Department acknowledged a renovation plan it had previously said was not final.

District Judge Ana Reyes announced the inquiry at a Friday hearing in the lawsuit over East Potomac Park. It will examine whether agency officials and attorneys, including Justice Department lawyers, made misrepresentations to the court or violated ethical rules. Reyes stressed that opening an inquiry does not mean she has found misconduct or will find any.

For months, government lawyers maintained that no final renovation plan existed, even as President Donald Trump posted about the project on social media. In a Wednesday filing, they said the National Park Service would submit a design by golf course architect Tom Fazio to the National Capital Planning Commission on Friday for a “World Class, championship-level golf course” capable of hosting major events. The government also said it intended to close much of East Potomac Park, including the course.

Reyes pressed Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. on why the court had not been told that the planning submission had been in preparation for weeks. “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 asked.

At the start of the hearing, Reyes cited a professional rule barring lawyers from knowingly making false statements to a court or failing to correct them. Asked whether he had anything to correct, Woodward replied, “Not to my knowledge,” while saying he had not read every transcript in the case.

Woodward argued that Trump’s posts were akin to directions to an agency, not a guarantee that a closure would occur. He said the course was not currently scheduled to close on November 15, though the government had filed a notice of intent to close it under Reyes’ order requiring 10 days’ written notice. Trump’s posts said the course would close for 15 months beginning that day, according to Al Jazeera.

A new lease agreement with National Links Trust, the nonprofit course operator, says it will stop operating East Potomac by close of business on or before November 15, according to NPR. The agreement leaves the organization operating Washington’s other two municipal courses under a 50-year lease. The administration says the wider park closure is also needed because a deteriorating seawall poses a safety hazard.

The lawsuit was filed in February by local preservation advocates and golfers. The DC Preservation League argues the project could violate environmental protections and damage a historically significant public space, Al Jazeera reported. The dispute intensified this month after the administration removed more than 400 trees, according to Al Jazeera. Reyes barred further tree removal and other irreversible changes; the government appealed. She also ordered officials to preserve relevant documents.

Al Jazeera reported that Reyes announced she would appoint a special master to examine the government’s conduct. NPR reported that she had not yet appointed one and said a special master might lead the inquiry. According to NPR, Reyes said she would conduct the inquiry herself if the government rejected the special master. “For months, the court trusted, but did not verify,” she said. “No longer.”