US District Judge Ana C. Reyes began Friday's hearing by reading the District of Columbia Bar's rule barring lawyers from knowingly making false statements to a court, or failing to correct them. Looking directly at the government's lead lawyer as she stressed its provisions on factual assertions, Reyes later said: “Let's not play games anymore, Mr. Woodward.”
Reyes then opened a formal inquiry into whether Justice Department lawyers and Trump administration officials misrepresented President Trump's plans to renovate East Potomac Golf Links. The hearing lasted nearly three hours.
The inquiry concerns a dispute over whether the administration had a settled plan to turn the municipal course into a championship-level venue while its lawyers told the court that no final plan existed. For months, lawyers representing the Interior Department and National Park Service maintained that position in filings and hearings, even as Trump said otherwise on social media.
On October 10, the administration cut down more than 400 trees with less than a day's notice. Reyes later halted further tree-clearing and major renovations in a scathing 70-page opinion, which the government promptly appealed.
On Wednesday, government lawyers acknowledged in writing that there was a plan for a Tom Fazio-designed championship-level course. It would close the golf course and much of the surrounding park in mid-November, and the venue was described as capable of hosting major events.
That same day, the National Park Service signed a new lease with the National Links Trust. Under the agreement, the organisation is to stop operating at East Potomac by close of business on or before November 15.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr., the Justice Department's third-highest ranking official, is leading the government's defence. Government lawyers told Reyes on Friday that they had submitted renovation plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, and Woodward said the submission had been in preparation for several weeks.
Woodward also appeared to say that the October 10 tree removal formed part of a wider course-update plan. The administration had previously denied that position.
Reyes said she was opening the inquiry to consider whether agency officials and employees, including agency and Justice Department lawyers, had made misrepresentations to the court and broken applicable ethical rules. She stressed that she was making no finding that Justice Department lawyers had misrepresented anything.
The judge ordered the attorneys to preserve all documents connected to the case. A special master, a judicial officer with full investigatory powers, could be appointed to lead the inquiry, which could result in sanctions against government lawyers.
The case was brought by preservationists and golfers seeking to keep the course unchanged. Trump has repeatedly said on social media that the project would begin “immediately” and called Reyes a “crazed lunatic.” Reyes is a nominee of former President Joe Biden.
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