Judge Reyes orders DOJ officials to appear in Potomac golf course case
🚨 BREAKING: Federal Judge Ana Reyes is launching an investigation into Trump DOJ attorneys and appointing a special master after an explosive hearing over Trump's golf course takeover.
Loving it’s over a fucking golf course! The Karma, the irony, it’s got it all!
Finally a judge with some balls. Thanks Judge Reyes!
Donald Trump MUST go to prison. By any means necessary.
400 million on a tax payer funded golf course renovation? wtf.
I love the smell of disbarment in the morning.
💥Girl power!!! Yes, finally someone stand up to the Mango Mussolini. LFG!!
NEW: Judge Reyes opens an investigation into the Justice Department and Department of the Interior in the golf course case.
I hope these shitweasels are worried about their law licenses
Rooting for a Special Master to take on the investigation, to take threat heat off of Reyes.
More investigations and inquiries and the administration will just wait for a busy holiday weekend and send out bulldozers. Again.
Couldn't have happened to a lamer bunch of cult members masquerading as public servants.
This entire hearing was just bonkers! This is clearly overdue. Was asking another lawyer friend of mine, do these people not realize that judges talk and that they read these things? These lawyers have lost presumption, permanently and that's a big deal.
Many thanks to you both, Chris and Allison.
BREAKING: Judge Reyes will open a formal inquiry into whether there were material misrepresentations from DOJ/DOI officials in the East Potomac Golf Course case. Either Reyes or a special master will carry out the inquiry.
This inquiry will look into: 1. Tree-cutting plan 2. Bowron dec 3. Griess dec 4. Counsel representations about golf course change plans 5. Counsel representations on no plans to close
I gotta say, with all the constant lying, gaslighting, evasions, and withholding the Trump DOJ has done across so many areas affecting American lives & democracy It bothers me that the case generating so much righteous anger and appropriate consequences is about cutting trees down on a golf course.
Sanctions, contempt and ethics referrals for the government lawyers are what's needed now.
I am weirdly excited about this and have no one to talk to about it.
Isn't Jack Smith available for a new assignment? (My hunch: The DOJ guys will be less cute/game-playing in front of a white male judge or master. That's just reality.)
Thanks for today's excitement! We are all so grateful - and, clearly, addicted.
the amazing thing is that all this potential misconduct is related to a *golf course*
Clearly the judge was teed off.
Our federal courts just weren't used to/prepared for so much lying from the Department of Justice. But they appear to be learning. Good.
Pretty remarkable that Trump’s obsessive effort to bulldoze a historic golf course in DC (that I didn’t know existed!) is turning into a thing that could wind up with top ranking DOJ and Interior lawyers facing investigation and sanctions for lying to a federal judge.
Non-lawyers: this is VERY, VERY bad for the DOJ and DOI officials. Judge Reyes has gone for the nuclear option. If found to have deliberately lied to the Court, a lawyer can lose theiie licence. An official could be held in contempt. Wow.
I wonder, when all is said and done, how many other judges will do the same.
question for the lawyers what are the actual material consequences for this? will doj lawyers lose their licenses or face jailtime?
Trump’s single greatest power is his ability to compel minions to throw away their careers and lives for him in a way that he won’t even notice.
It’s understandably going to take a long time for a court to get there but I think we’d all benefit from a few DOJ attorneys spending a bit of time in jail contemplating how far they want to go for a golf course
Judges only do this when they're really happy actually bsky.app/profile/chri...
Woodward seems concerned that Judge Reyes is trying to catch him in a lie. Which, y'know. He should be.
We're back. DOJ's Woodward says the record shows that there has been removal of trees and trash. Judge Reyes pivots to DOJ's recent filing asking for a stay of the preliminary injunction wants to know why they ask for Nov. 4. W: could be Nov. 5. We had to pick a date.
Would seem the solution to that would have been to not lie
Today: W: “There was not a plan to close the course on Oct. 26.” R: “You are telling me, even now, that there was no plan even on Oct. 26.” W: can’t hypothesize W: there has been work on a plan to close the course for two weeks. R: no one mentioned that during a seven hour hearing on October 17?
Oh, I think she's already caught him on a lie, she's just adding material to the contempt case now.
If you have to avoid getting caught in your lies, the best thing to do would’ve been to not lie in the first place.
I too get concerned about being caught in a lie when I lie.
Ah, I can give advice here from my extensive legal education and training. It's complicated and nuanced, so listen carefully: Don't lie to the judge. I know, it's a lot to take in. But if you can work out all the finer points of "not lying" and "being truthful," you can avoid this problem.
To be fair, Trump's DOJ has no experience with what can happen to the subject of a perjury trap
He should have tried not lying.
This whole time I've been picturing Woodward making that face & the hand motion that every football (soccer 🙄) player makes when the ref pulls out a yellow card.
It’s a bit late to worry about that now. Reminder: this abasement of DOJ & other executive branch members is in service to Trump’s obsession over a public golf course. Im🍑
Odd, I've never had that concern when appearing before a judge.
I'll be following the happenings in Judge Reyes' courtroom this morning. She's called Stanley Woodward from the DOJ and Jessica Bowrun from the NPS to explain why Trump says he's closing East Potomac Golf Club after they told her there were no plans to do so.
That is assuming I make it into the call...
Judge Reyes’s public listening line: * Dial: 833-990-9400 * Access code: 787605272. This is awesome. She is on FIRE.
I really hope she's the first judge to drop the hammer on some DOJ attorneys. I appreciate April Perry's methodical approach in the Broadview Six case, but she pretty clearly never trusted the DOJ attorneys. This is different. Judge Reyes thought they were dealing with her in good faith.
Please. Is there even ONE judge who has held any of these lying criminals accountable? Idk what they can do exactly but I've not seen anyone be punished. Obviously I'm not a lawyer but I don't understand this dance. Why have they not been compelled to release epstein files after a whole year?
Why aren't these "lawyers" in jail for contempt yet?
Outstanding reporting here from Julie DiCaro. Trump MAGAt attorney Stanley Woodward is getting his arse handed to him by an extremely competent judge. Woodward is the poster child for what is terribly wrong with many attorneys in the US. Woodward should be disbarred and put in jail.
This is the whole "is it bad when..." thing about a million times. Is it bad when... - A judge suggests you choose your words carefully - Gets out a dictionary to define "plan" and "involved with" to you? - Starts by reading the Rules of Professional Conduct to you aloud to refresh your memory
THREAD!!! Watch Stanley Woodward destroy his career in real time!
Be sure to check out this one too. bsky.app/profile/juli...
Whew, thank you Julie 😵💫
The Justice Department this morning admitted in court that just fixing the seawall around East Potomac Park so Trump can build his golf course there will cost a staggering $400 million. I explained why the seawall is such a big deal back in August: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
For all the visuals see here: youtube.com/shorts/mOHye...
I have shared that link so many times to get people to understand what an absolute boondoggle and fever dream Trump's golf course "renovation" is. Great work!
Literally trying to build something in a swamp.🙄