Key facts
- Reyes named Liu, former US attorney for the District of Columbia, as special master to investigate the departments of Justice and Interior.
- Reyes said at an earlier hearing that the Justice Department had urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president.
- The Interior Department called Reyes a far Left activist judge who would stop at nothing to prevent Trump's efforts to beautify the capital.
- The lawsuit by a non-profit group and two Washington residents says the East Potomac Park reconstruction violates environmental laws and a congressional preservation act.
US District Judge Ana Reyes said on November 7 she would appoint Jessie Liu, former US attorney for the District of Columbia, as a special master to investigate whether lawyers for the departments of Justice and Interior committed ethical violations in defending President Donald Trump's plans to close and renovate the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington.
Reyes named Liu one week after an October 30 hearing at which she ordered an ethics probe and expressed concerns that government attorneys misrepresented the administration's intention to continue the renovation despite her temporary order blocking the project. At that time, Trump had said renovation work would begin immediately, contrary to assertions Reyes said government officials had made asking her to disregard the president's statements.
"Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president," Reyes said at an earlier hearing. "This started as a case about golf ... But it has become much more."
Liu was the US attorney for DC during Trump's first term, when she oversaw the criminal case against Trump's longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone. After a few years in private practice, Liu and two other former prosecutors launched their own law firm in April.
The Interior Department issued a statement calling Reyes a "far Left activist judge" who would "stop at nothing to prevent President Donald Trump's efforts to beautify our nation's capital."
Trump's plan to transform the East Potomac links into a "world class" golf course is part of a broader effort to leave his architectural stamp on Washington. The lawsuit filed by a non-profit group and two Washington residents asserts that the planned reconstruction of East Potomac Park, including the golf course, violates environmental laws and a congressional preservation act.