Inset: U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes pictured June 2022 during her confirmation hearings (Sen. Dick Durbin/YouTube). Background: President Donald Trump holds scissors to cut the ribbon during the opening ceremony for Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen, Scotland Tuesday, July 29, 2025 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant).
A judge in Washington, D.C., plans to appoint a special master to investigate whether Trump administration attorneys “have committed ethical violations” during litigation over President Donald Trump’s construction plans at a park and golf course in the federal district.
In an order on Nov. 7, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Joe Biden appointee, gave notice to attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of the Interior that their behavior through Halloween would be under the special master’s remit.
“The Court gives Notice of its intent to appoint former United States Attorney Jessie K. Liu as the Special Master,” the order reads. “Ms. Liu served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2017 to 2020, the same office in which she previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney.”
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The forthcoming special master was first mentioned during a hearing on Oct. 30. During those proceedings, Reyes said the inquiry would focus on whether the government lied about plans to overhaul the municipal golf course and public park where the course is located.
The appointment considerably raises the stakes as Reyes and the Trump administration — as well as the plaintiffs — have been caught up in an increasingly acrimonious dispute over the public land.
Since the lawsuit was filed in February, the litigation has been marked by long periods of waiting and fast-paced changes.
The plaintiffs began by alleging Trump intended to “destroy East Potomac Golf Course” and build “in its place a championship-style golf course suitable for professional tournaments.”
Reyes, however, initially resisted relief for the plaintiffs, telling the parties she did “not want to be the overseer of Parks and Rec.”
But attitudes changed considerably in early October when the Interior Department removed some 529 trees from the golf course — which is part of East Potomac Park. This clear-cutting earned the judge’s ire, as Law&Crime previously reported. Reyes accused DOJ attorneys of doing “your absolute worst” in terms of lawyering and angrily criticized the government in a hearing that resulted in the judge ordering a freeze on further construction or tree removal.
Since then, the judge has doggedly quizzed DOJ and DOI attorneys about whether they have been candid with the court.
During the Oct. 30 hearing, Reyes mused as to whether the tree removal fiasco was “designed to evade judicial review,” according to a courtroom report by The New York Times.
The judge also pressed the government about Trump’s social media posts in which he has repeatedly said Nov. 15 is the day the government “will renovate and rebuild” the golf course.
In response, high-ranking DOJ attorney Stanley Woodward reportedly insisted the plan was not in its “final” stages while at the same time conceding that officials were not apprised of all the plans.
Some officials were apparently less in the dark than others.
In late October, farewell photos posted by former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia apparently revealed some aspects of hitherto secret plans to eliminate vast swathes of the park itself for the planned professional golf course. The formal plans were filed on Oct. 30 and were finally revealed in full this week in court filings.
The filed plans track with the Zacharia revelations.
Under the Washington National Plan, the park’s popular cherry-blossom-lined bike path along Hains Point “becomes part of the golf course, in place of the existing lawn and picnic areas,” according to the filing.
A few days before the final plan was filed on the docket, the government filed notice of its intent to close the park on Nov. 15 — in line with the requirements of the existing preliminary injunction.
Now, government lawyers may soon have another person to answer to.
The court’s order elaborates on Liu’s qualifications:
In addition, she has held senior positions at the Justice Department. These include deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division; counsel to the deputy attorney general on national security issues; and deputy chief of staff for the National Security Division. Ms. Liu also served as deputy general counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition, Ms. Liu has been a partner at several international law firms. She is currently a partner at Liu Shur Kravis LLP.
Liu’s would-be appointment is not set in stone.
The parties have until Nov. 13 to file motions related to the proposed special master.
“Any response by the Government will be without prejudice to its argument, if any, that the court should not conduct an ethics inquiry,” the order concludes. “If the Court appoints Ms. Liu, it will enter a detailed order doing so.”
The post ‘An ethics inquiry’: Judge in golf course case names proposed special master to assess whether DOJ or other Trump admin officials lied and ‘committed ethical violations’ first appeared on Law & Crime.
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