A Biden-appointed judge embroiled in a fierce dispute with the Trump administration over the removal of hundreds of trees at a federally owned D. C. golf course reversed course during Monday's nearly seven-hour hearing. Judge Ana Reyes ended the nearly seven-hour hearing by backing away from her initial demand that Justice Department attorneys arguing the case put their names alongside Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr.’s Sunday filing.
Reyes had invoked Rule 11, which requires attorneys to stand behind the factual basis of court filings and can subject them to sanctions for violations. "Late breaking news," Reyes said. "I'm going to withdraw request that DOJ refile yesterday's brief with identification of who signed it. we've all got better things to spend our time on." The about-face from Reyes, who hours before the hearing was dubbed a "crazed lunatic" by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, is the latest development in a court battle over Trump's plans to completely renovate East Potomac Golf Links into a "world-class, U.S.
Open-caliber course." The lawsuit, which was first filed in February, reached a boiling point earlier this month when the National Park Service removed roughly 430 trees at the golf course over a weekend. The Interior Department said the tree removals were part of a years-old plan to restore the course’s historic design and were unrelated to Trump’s proposed overhaul. BIDEN JUDGE REJECTS OBAMA CIA CHIEF'S LEGAL BID AGAINST TRUMP OVER ONE KEY PROBLEM Though the action did not violate a court order, it prompted Reyes to impose a temporary restraining order barring further tree removals.
She also was described as "screaming" at the administration attorneys during an Oct. 12 hearing. The hearing prompted Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward to seek Reyes’ removal from the case, accusing her of bias and "open hostility" toward the Trump administration. Both Woodward and Trump have called for the release of the court’s audio recordings of the hearings.
"The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane? The tapes have been blocked from usage by the judge," Trump posted Monday hours before the hearing, saying the Trump administration has a "right" to turn the course into a "great, safe, and prestigious" golf course. "Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY!
The finished product will be World Class, and bring income and great prestige back to D.C." Trump made two other tweets Sunday saying that Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum and architect Tom Fazio had "developed a plan" to revamp the East Potomac Golf Links into a "World Class Championship Golf Course" and that work would begin November 15. The tweets prompted Reyes to give the Justice Department an 8 p.m. filing deadline, saying Trump's characterization conflicted with a previous filing that stated there was "no agency action" in Trump's golf course plan. The filing was signed only by Woodward, which immediately became a point of contention at the start of Monday's hearing.
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