Judge Opens Inquiry Into Government Lawyers Over DC Golf Course

A US federal judge has opened a formal inquiry into whether government lawyers misled the court about plans to transform a historic public golf course in Washington, DC. Judge Ana Reyes of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said on Friday she would appoint a special master. The master will examine whether officials withheld information or made misleading statements about the East Potomac Golf Links.

The inquiry will not decide whether government lawyers committed misconduct. It will look at whether their conduct breached professional or ethical obligations.

Questions at the hearing

Reyes questioned Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr for more than two hours. She repeatedly compared his testimony with President Donald Trump's online announcements. She also asked him whether a National Park Service official had been told to leave details out of a court declaration.

The trigger was a run of contradictory statements by administration officials. Trump's posts on Truth Social began earlier this month. They indicated the course would close for 15 months from November 15 for a major redevelopment. Officials from the Interior Department, the Justice Department and the National Park Service had earlier been unable to confirm any plans when the judge questioned them.

A dispute that kept growing

Earlier this year, Reyes ordered the government to give advance notice of substantive construction work at the site. The dispute escalated this month after more than 400 trees were removed from the course. She then extended her injunction against any further "irreversible" changes.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department told the court that the National Park Service would send a design by golf course architect Tom Fazio to the National Capital Planning Commission on Friday. Until then, its lawyers had declined to acknowledge any plans for the course. Trump had already posted about hiring Fazio "to build a World Class Championship Golf Course" on the park site, which currently has biking and walking paths.

The DC Preservation League filed the lawsuit in February. It argues the redevelopment could violate environmental protections and damage a historically significant public space.

Another judge was due to hear a separate challenge on Friday to the White House's proposed 75-metre memorial arch near Arlington National Cemetery. Both suits raise the question of how much say a president has over federal land and public monuments. David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, told The Associated Press that the cases reflect a shift in the administration's approach to legal limits. "There was always the assumption that you would try to do things that were legal," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera