House Democrats demand that the Interior Department retain documents related to President Donald Trump’s construction projects around Washington after whistleblowers warned that key documents had already been destroyed before Democrats took power, congressional sources told CNN.
The warnings come as the Trump administration signals that it will accelerate plans to advance the projects — a key part of what the president considers his legacy — to lay as much of a foundation as possible. before Democrats took over Congress in January.
On Tuesday, the top Democratic House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the agency that helped fast-track many of Trump’s projects, plans to send letters to the Interior Department as well as other federal agencies and private companies, asking them to “preserve all sensitive records and data from surveillance” overseen by the congressional panel.
The targets of Rep. Jared Huffman’s letters, first shared with CNN, give an early indication of what could be in the crosshairs of an investigation when the California Democrat becomes committee chairman in the new Congress.
Several credible whistleblowers have contacted the Huffman committee in recent weeks to express concern that the Interior Department is getting rid of the files in anticipation of upcoming scrutiny, the sources told CNN. The agency oversees much of the national park that Trump wants to use for his projects.
The Interior Ministry called the whistleblower’s allegations “100% false.”
“The department follows all federal records management obligations as directed by department ethics officials,” a spokesperson said.
Other recipients of preservation letters include the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, part of Interior.
Letters are also being sent to the Department of Agriculture and to companies like Lockheed Martin and John Deere, known for donating to Trump’s projects. The whistleblowers did not indicate that these entities destroyed any documents.
However, any letter recipients must respond to certify compliance, which requires efforts to “preserve existing record collections and productions,” as well as “identify and recover any deleted information” and “suspend all destruction and deletion practices.”
An investigative mandate
The generally low-profile National Resources Committee may not have the prominence of the Judiciary or Oversight committees, but in the new Congress it is poised to take on the role of chief antagonist and auditor. projects that Trump was deeply and personally invested in making.
The committee has legislative jurisdiction over national parks and federal lands, on which Trump is trying to build projects like the East Potomac Golf Course and the Arc de Triomphe.
“Everything happens; everything happens,” Huffman told CNN in an interview, signaling that his committee preparing a large arsenal of tools that accompany the hammer of the new majority.
“It’s just going to be a brand new day,” he said, noting that a victory of the magnitude Democrats achieved in the midterms would encourage their investigations because they are believed to have a real mandate from voters who thought the president focused on the wrong issues.
Committee aides hope to hold a high-profile hearing on one or more bills early in the new Congress. The golf course and the Arc de Triomphe take center stage among the areas of interest.
In anticipation of possible obstruction by the administration, the committee is prepared to issue subpoenas.
Huffman believes the committee’s work could prevent some of the president’s construction projects from moving forward, “particularly because we have standing to sue if we have to,” he said. “We will have tools to be able to stop a lot of it.”
The committee also coordinated with the House Oversight and Justice Services, which developed an aggressive approach to investigating other areas of the administration.
At the same time, several sources familiar with the approval process for Trump’s plans told CNN they see a new urgency on the part of the administration to go as far as possible by the end of the year.
The decision to boost some of the president’s projects is angering many in the preservationist community who are fighting against them.
The triumphal arch; a project to install a fence on Lafayette Square, near the White House; East Potomac Golf Links; and the Tidal Basin Development Concept plan, which includes the President’s Garden of American Heroes, will all see action moving them forward over the next 60 days.
Some will be presented to key federal agencies for approval, and others are moving forward in the historic preservation evaluation process.
“We’re going to start seeing all of these things happening simultaneously,” said Charles Birnbaum of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. “It’s going to be like a storm rolling in until the new Congress is in session.”
The day after the midterm elections, Trump appeared at the construction site of the White House ballroom, signing the last steel beam before it was lifted.
Davis Ingle, White House spokesman, said: “President Trump is moving forward at lightning speed because we have no time to waste in our mission to make America greater than ever. »
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