Judge opens misconduct inquiry into Trump officials in golf course case

A federal judge in Washington has started looking into whether Trump administration officials and government attorneys misled her court or broke ethics rules in litigation over the president's plan to rebuild East Potomac Golf Links, a public course that has operated in the city since the 1920s. U. S. District Judge Ana Reyes announced the step at a Friday hearing and stressed that nothing has been found against anyone yet. She will lead the effort with help from a special master, who has not been chosen; the Justice Department has five days to object to that appointment, according to CBS News.

Among her questions: whether lawyers gave the court late, bad-faith warning that trees were about to be cut, since notice arrived only hours before crews started felling hundreds of them. She also wants to know whether lawyers shaped sworn declarations from Jessica Bowron, acting National Park Service director, and Kevin Griess, who oversees National Mall and Memorial Parks, by steering what was left out or put in.

Officials have repeatedly said no final plan exists.

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