Federal judge orders ethics inquiry into government conduct over Trump golf project

A US federal judge has ordered a formal inquiry into whether government lawyers misled the court about plans to redevelop a historic public golf course in Washington, DC, escalating a legal dispute over President Donald Trump’s plans for East Potomac Golf Links. Judge Ana Reyes of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said she would appoint a special master to examine whether government officials withheld information or made misleading assertions about the project. The inquiry will assess whether their conduct breached professional or ethical obligations; it will not itself determine whether the lawyers committed misconduct.

The order followed a series of conflicting statements from administration officials about the proposed renovation. Trump had announced on social media that the course would close for 15 months from November 15 to allow major redevelopment, while officials from the Interior Department, the Justice Department and the National Park Service had previously been unable to confirm the plans’ existence or scope when questioned by Reyes. During Friday’s hearing, Reyes questioned Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr for more than two hours.

The judge repeatedly compared his testimony with Trump’s online announcements and asked whether a National Park Service official had been instructed to leave information out of a court declaration. The case began after the DC Preservation League filed a lawsuit in February. The organisation argues that rebuilding the course could breach environmental protections and damage a historically significant public space.

Earlier this year, Reyes ordered the government to provide advance notice of substantive construction work at the site. The dispute intensified after more than 400 trees were removed from the golf course earlier this month. Reyes responded by extending an injunction prohibiting the government from making further “irreversible” changes to the site.

The Justice Department told the court on Wednesday that the National Park Service would submit a design by golf-course architect Tom Fazio to the National Capital Planning Commission on Friday. Until that point, Justice Department lawyers had declined to acknowledge plans relating to the course, even though Trump had posted that Fazio had been commissioned to build a “World Class Championship Golf Course” on the park site. The site currently includes biking and walking paths as well as the municipal golf course.

The reports do not say whether the judge’s inquiry will halt every aspect of the redevelopment, but Reyes’s injunction already restricts further irreversible changes. The golf-course case is one of two legal disputes concerning Trump’s plans for Washington on Friday. Another judge was due to hear a challenge to a proposed 75-metre memorial arch near Arlington National Cemetery.

The cases raise broader questions about presidential authority over federal land and public monuments. David Super, a Georgetown University law professor quoted by the Associated Press, said the disputes reflected a change in the administration’s approach to legal limits on executive power. The immediate judicial question, however, is narrower: whether government representatives gave the court complete and accurate information while the project was being contested.