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Donald Trump’s administration could face contempt hearings or sanctions if a federal judge finds evidence that officials destroyed documents related to the president’s projects in Washington, D.C., including plans to close and renovate a public golf course.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes — who is overseeing the escalating legal battle over Trump’s plans to transform the East Potomac Golf Links and a surrounding park into a “world-class, championship-level golf course” — is ready to launch those hearings in a “zeptosecond.”
A zeptosecond, she explained, is the shortest time ever measured.
“If I find credible evidence of document destruction, I will initiate sanctions or contempt proceedings within a zeptosecond,” she said during Friday’s hearing.
His warning followed whistleblower reports to Democratic members of Congress that administration officials were destroying documents related to Trump’s pet projects. Democrats called on administration officials to “preserve existing document collections and productions,” “identify and recover any deleted information” and “suspend any practices of destruction and deletion.”
The lawsuit intensifies the fight over what could be Washington D.C.’s largest renovation project to date, endangering the future of the nearly 400-acre public park.
But what began as yet another lawsuit aimed at stopping one of the president’s renovations in the Washington, D.C., area has turned into a volatile legal battle between the executive branch, top administration officials and the judiciary.
Preservation groups and golfers sued the administration to prevent the park from closing. They argue that the administration’s logic – park security – is just an excuse to close the popular public space and transform it into an exclusive, upscale course.
Last month, Trump announced on his Truth Social account that the park would close “immediately” for “approximately 15 months” for renovations.
Administration officials insisted for weeks in court that there were no imminent plans to close the park despite President Truth Social’s announcements outlining his vision for the project.
But officials finally admitted in court filings last month that the president’s plans to close the park by Nov. 15 were in fact underway.
The president said on Truth Social last month that the Interior Department had “an absolute right” to “take a terrible, very dangerous golf course and turn it into a great, safe, prestigious golf course.”
“The judge in the case is a crazed lunatic who the courthouse tapes will reveal may be insane?” Trump wrote.
The Justice Department’s admission that the park would close, despite previous testimony, stunned Judge Reyes, who recently appointed a former federal prosecutor to investigate the government’s conduct in the matter and determine whether officials lied or violated ethics rules.
Justice Department officials wrote in court filings Friday that there was “no reasonable basis to conduct an ethics investigation in this matter.”
The Trump administration has argued that deteriorating conditions in the park, including a seawall that park officials have been warning about for more than a decade, necessitate its closure.
The National Links Trust, the nonprofit that manages the parks, will also stop operating East Potomac after this weekend, leaving the park without an operator to manage the course.
But Reyes, who has repeatedly questioned government lawyers throughout the legal battle, is extremely skeptical that the alleged safety concerns require the immediate closure of the park.
She noted that thousands of runners participated in the Marine Corps Marathon last month, without any safety warnings, while members of the public continue to use the course and surrounding park every day.
During Friday’s hearing, she repeatedly asked whether the plans submitted to federal agencies were final — and whether the government would reconsider them even if tens of thousands objected during the public comment process.
“I assume you are aware that there is some controversy in this design,” Reyes said. “People in DC are very unhappy with this design.”
She asked those in the courtroom to raise their hands if they oppose the plan.
“Turn around, sir,” she told Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division.
Of more than 100 people in the room, the “vast majority” raised their hands, Reyes said.
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