A federal judge stated she’s appointing a former prosecutor under President Trump to investigate whether government lawyers committed ethical violations while defending Trump’s plans regarding East Potomac Golf Links.
The year-long controversy, which Golf Digest has covered, has come to a head in recent weeks following the Trump administration removing trees from the golf course despite an order requiring the government to provide advanced notice of development. On Saturday, U.S. district judge Ana Reyes said she’s naming Jessie Liu as special master to examine the conduct of attorneys for the Department of Justice and the Interior for its handling of the public golf course that sits in the shadow of the Washington Monument. A federal prosecutor and senior Justice official under President George W. Bush, Lui led the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington before Trump nominated her in 2019 for associate attorney general. Her nomination was withdraw after conservatives objected to her role in a women lawyers’ group.
According to Reyes, the focus will be on the tree removal and past government statements on plans for the course. There has been a question regarding the disparity between what lawyers have told Reyes and what Trump has said in public. On Oct. 18 lawyers for the Justice Department said plans were not finalized for East Potomac, only for the president to announce on social media that the course was closing in November for architect Tom Fazio to begin a championship renovation.
The Trump administration, along with the D.C. Preservation League (the group suing government over the East Potomac proposal) until the end of the week to object. Reyes has previously ordered that no more trees can be removed while the case is ongoing. As Golf Digest has reported, this case has grown from Trump’s push to take control of East Potomac, along with two other D.C. public courses, from the National Links Trust. The nonprofit won a 50-year lease from the National Park Service in 2020 during Trump’s first term in office. The Interior issued the Trust a notice of default last year citing missing benchmarks in a construction timeline, terminating the lease for alleged unpaid rent. The Trust has disputed that figure, pointing to provisions that let capital improvements offset rent.
Golf Digest also reported that Fazio, who has previously designed courses for Trump’s properties, toured East Potomac last fall under an alias before visiting the White House later that afternoon. Sources have told Golf Digest that Trump envisions East Potomac hosting major championships or a Ryder Cup. How real those aspirations are is unclear, as the course has multiple logistical issues and a small physical footprint compared to current modern commercial needs for professional golf tournaments.
In May the administration and Trust reached an agreement that allowed the Trust to keep control of the other two courses while East Potomac fell under Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s control. However, there is a lawsuit from the D.C. Preservation League and two D.C. golfers, arguing the redevelopment of East Potomac violates an act of Congress that designated the land to be “forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people.” The plaintiffs have also challenged the dumping of debris from Trump’s demolition of the White House’s East Wing onto the course.
Trump has said he still plans on closing the East Potomac on Nov. 15, calling the course a “debris-ridden wasteland” and a “national disgrace.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
