Shaken Trump DOJ begs to ditch judge who grilled officials over razed golf course trees

The Trump administration is scrambling to dump a federal judge days before its top officials must answer her questions under oath.

In a motion filed late Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department asked that Judge Ana C. Reyes be disqualified from a lawsuit over the National Park Service's removal of trees at East Potomac Park, home to the East Potomac Golf Links that the Trump administration is renovating.

The motion, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, claims "no reasonable observer could consider Judge Reyes sufficiently impartial to adjudicate this case." It also asks the court to release audio of an October 12 hearing "to allow the American people to fully appreciate Judge Reyes's animosity for the Trump administration."

The timing of the filing is notable. After that October 12 hearing, Reyes ordered Gregory Wischer, the Interior secretary's deputy chief of staff for policy, and Jessica Bowron, acting director of the Park Service, to appear at a preliminary injunction hearing Monday and "be prepared to present sworn testimony." She later required both to show up in person, along with a third witness.

During the October 12 hearing, Reyes ordered Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands to testify by phone. The department complained he "had to dial in from his car."

The filing catalogs remarks that the DOJ says crossed the line, including Reyes telling government counsel, "No, you did not do your best. You did your absolute worst," and saying "the government can't be trusted." It accuses her of "histrionics" and calls her behavior "nothing short of egregious."

The DOJ also argues that hauling in senior officials shows "a cavalier disregard for these officials' valuable time," and it points to Reyes' handling of a separate case over the Trump administration's ban on transgender military service, where she pressed a government lawyer on what "Jesus would say" about barring a group of people from homeless shelters.

The East Potomac Golf Links has been a target of Trump's broader push to remake the capital. Reyes instructed the Trump administration in May to give her advance notice before removing more than 10 trees there, but crews began cutting trees over the Columbus Day weekend, with plans to take down as many as 529 trees. On Tuesday, Reyes issued an order halting the work.

Reyes said at an October 9 hearing that she has "given the government every single benefit of the doubt." The plaintiffs, led by the DC Preservation League, oppose the motion.