Judge Orders Trump Administration to Answer for Tree Removals at D.C. Golf Course
New York Times · LC · trust 45/100
During a four-hour hearing, a federal judge demanded answers from the Trump administration about who authorized the removal of hundreds of trees at the East Potomac Golf Links.
Listen · 6:13 min Share full article 73 Workers cutting down trees at the East Potomac Golf Links on Saturday. Credit... Andrew Leyden for The New York Times By Zach Montague
In an explosive, four-hour emergency hearing, Judge Ana C. Reyes of the Federal District Court in Washington ordered a one-day halt to any more tree removal at East Potomac Golf Links, and said she would continue proceedings on Tuesday.
But first she directed Justice Department lawyers to track down a succession of progressively more senior officials involved in the decision, and ordered them to testify on the spot, as she demanded answers about who had authorized the trees to be cleared and whether the decision was linked to the White House. President Trump has eyed the municipal course in southeastern Washington for redevelopment into a luxury championship course similar to those on his personal properties.
“I am thoroughly unamused right now,” Judge Reyes said, appearing remotely from Istanbul, where she had been traveling. She raised her voice at several points to near shouting level.
“What has happened has cost the government all of its credibility with me in this case,” she said, before listing all of the times she had directed the government to alert her to major alterations.
The Monday morning hearing was technically to address the tree removal, but Judge Reyes made clear that her larger concern was the possibility that the Trump administration had flouted her instructions. Since Mr. Trump returned to office last year, judges have repeatedly been forced to interrogate whether the government has complied with orders across a variety of cases.
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