A federal judge wants a special master to find out if government lawyers and officials misled her over changes to a historic public golf course in Washington.
The fight over a historic public golf course in Washington DC just got a referee. On Saturday, US district judge Ana Reyes said she plans to appoint a special master to investigate whether she was purposely misled during a case over changes to the East Potomac golf course.
Her pick is Jessie Liu, a former US attorney for the District of Columbia who served during Donald Trump's first term. Liu would look at whether officials from the interior department and the National Park Service, along with attorneys from the Department of Justice, broke ethics rules or gave the court a false picture of the renovation plans.
The civil case began in February, when the DC Preservation League and two golfers sued over the changes planned for the public course. Judge Reyes wants to know how far the renovation plans actually went, and whether what the court was told matched reality.
For now, this is a step to gather facts, not a ruling. Liu's review will test whether the statements made to the court held up, and the findings could shape where the case goes from here.
