Judge investigating whether Trump administration lied about golf course renovations

A federal judge in Washington said Friday she will investigate whether Justice Department attorneys misled her about President Donald Trump's plan to renovate the East Potomac Golf Course. Judge Ana Reyes wants to determine if the lawyers broke ethical rules, gave the court notice too late on purpose, failed to fix earlier inaccurate statements, or held back information. She will conduct the inquiry with a special master, an independent party appointed by the court, according to BBC.

Trump announced online that the course would shut in November for 15 months of work, even though a lawsuit by the DC Preservation League and others, filed in February, is still pending. Government attorneys had earlier told Reyes no closure was planned, then confirmed it this week. Earlier this month, the National Park Service cut hundreds of trees after alerting the judge only 15 hours beforehand. Reyes halted further removal and, in a 70-page ruling this week, required ten days' notice before any other changes. CBS News reports the administration plans to appeal.

At the hearing, Reyes pressed the lawyers on when they learned of the closure.

Summarized by PolitiKool from BBC’s reporting. Read the full story at BBC →