A federal judge in Washington, D.C., announced on Friday that the court will launch a formal investigation into potential ethical violations by government attorneys. The inquiry centers on the ongoing legal battle regarding the East Potomac Golf Course, a public facility that President Donald Trump intends to renovate.
Judge Ana Reyes stated from the bench that the court will probe whether agency employees, including attorneys from the Justice Department and other agencies, provided misleading information or violated professional conduct rules.
To support this inquiry, Reyes plans to appoint a special master tasked with determining if government lawyers withheld information, made false statements, or interfered with the accuracy of testimony provided to the court.
The underlying litigation began in February when the DC Preservation League filed suit to block the Interior Department from closing the historic Potomac River course to replace it with a championship-style facility favored by the President. Throughout the proceedings, the government had committed to notifying the league before taking any actions that would permanently alter the site.
Tensions escalated during the Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day weekend when the government provided notice at 4:55 p.m. on a Friday of its intent to cut down trees. Work began the following morning, resulting in the removal of over 400 trees. This abrupt action drew sharp criticism from Judge Reyes and prompted an immediate flurry of court filings to assess whether the government had deceived the judiciary. Cutting down more than 400 trees and drawing the ire of Reyes and sparking a flurry of court activity to determine if the government has misled the court, it began work early the next morning. Inexplicable’ order probed as cause of train crash that killed at least 69: Official. Stepmother, son charged with murder in fatal shooting of Oberlin professor dad.
During Friday’s hearing, Judge Reyes read from the D.C. Bar rules of professional conduct, emphasizing the duty of legal counsel to be truthful and to rectify any false statements. She questioned Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward regarding previous representations, specifically citing an October 19 hearing where he asserted there was no plan to close the golf course on November 15. According to 19 appearance in an evidentiary hearing in which he, “[w]ith regard to the November 15th date… there is no plan to close the course. Under withering questioning from Reyes on Friday, Woodward insisted as a legal matter no plan has been finalized.
This testimony contrasted with a subsequent statement from President Trump on social media, where he confirmed plans to close the East Potomac site on November 15 for modernization, safety, and aesthetic renovations. The court hearing was convened specifically to reconcile these conflicting accounts.
In a detailed 70-page ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Reyes criticized the administration’s conduct and suggested that federal environmental laws were likely breached. Her ruling expressed disbelief at the position taken by the Justice Department, noting that the agency appeared to be arguing that the court should not believe the statements of the President himself regarding the timing and scope of the federal land project. According to rarely, if ever, has the United, Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President,” Reyes wrote. “Not to believe him that a cabinet secretary has ‘developed’ a federal land project.
The court has now mandated that the administration provide 10 business days of written notice before initiating any further irreparable modifications to the golf course or the surrounding East Potomac Park. While Woodward previously attempted to have Judge Reyes disqualified for lack of impartiality, that motion was denied, and the government retains the right to object to the forthcoming appointment of a special master. 2 college students found dead after going missing while hiking, police say.
