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Archive photo · 20 October 2026Judge Ana Reyes Opens Formal Inquiry Into DOJ Lawyers Over East Potomac Golf Links Case
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Judge Reyes opened formal inquiry into DOJ lawyers' misrepresentations in East Potomac Golf Links case. Investigation probes potential misrepresentations to court and ethics-rule violations by Trump officials.
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Reyes opens ethics probe
District Judge Ana Reyes opened a formal inquiry into whether Justice Department officials and employees, including agency lawyers and DOJ lawyers, provided misrepresentations in the East Potomac Golf Links case. Reyes said the court would investigate whether the agency’s officials and employees “have provided misrepresentations in the presence of the court and have violated ethical rules in other ways,” as the hearing turned into a tense clash with DOJ staff.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. faced Reyes’s questions about the timing and status of the administration’s renovation plans, after government lawyers acknowledged in writing Wednesday that the administration is closing the park next month. Reyes also pressed whether officials had not been truthful when they told her last Monday that they were not aware of the park closure that Trump had posted about that same morning, and she announced that she would “open a formal inquiry into whether agency officials and employees, including agency attorneys and [Justice Department] attorneys, have made misrepresentations to the court and otherwise violated applicable ethical rules.”
Truth Social, tree clearing
Trump’s public statements about East Potomac intensified the legal fight, with the sources describing that his posts indicated the course would close for 15 months starting on November 15 to accommodate redevelopment.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward told the court Wednesday that the Trump administration planned to close all of East Potomac Park, which includes the golf course, a surrounding road and recreation area, by Nov.
Reyes opened Friday’s hearing by quoting the D.C. Bar Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3, which prohibits lawyers from knowingly making or failing to correct false statements to the court.
Reyes also called the lawyers’ claims into doubt after government acknowledged for the first time in their Wednesday filing that the administration is closing the park next month, and after Reyes demanded to know whether officials had not been truthful about the park closure posted by Trump.
Special master and next steps
Reyes said the inquiry would not establish whether government lawyers committed misconduct, and she framed it as a determination of whether their conduct breached professional or ethical obligations. Reyes stressed that there has not been any finding of wrongdoing, and she gave the Justice Department five days to object to her move to name a special master.
Reyes announced she would appoint a special master to examine whether government officials withheld information or made misleading assertions concerning the East Potomac Golf Links. Reyes ordered the government to preserve all relevant documents so the court can conduct an inquiry without the loss of evidence, and Reyes extended her ban on further tree removal while requiring 10 days’ written notice before closing or irreversibly modifying East Potomac.