Follow-Up: DOJ Moves to Disqualify Judge in East Potomac Golf Course Case, Citing 'Deep-Seated and Unequivocal Antipathy'
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday evening, October 16, filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking District Judge Ana C. Reyes to recuse herself from the East Potomac golf course renovation lawsuit, and to release the audio of the October 12 hearing. According to Bloomberg Law, CNN and other outlets reporting on October 17, the motion was signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr.
The motion calls Reyes's conduct 'nothing short of egregious,' says she holds a 'deep-seated and unequivocal antipathy' toward the Trump administration, and argues that 'no reasonable observer could consider Judge Reyes sufficiently impartial.' It criticizes her for requiring senior officials to attend Monday's hearing, calling it a cavalier disregard for officials' time and for separation-of-powers principles, and asks that the October 12 hearing audio be released 'to allow the American people to fully appreciate Judge Reyes's animosity for the Trump administration.' The government's position in the case is that the tree removals at East Potomac Park were 'authorized tree maintenance.' The plaintiffs — the DC Preservation League and two local residents — have filed in opposition to the recusal request, and said the release of the audio is up to the court's discretion.
Reyes previously issued a 14-day temporary restraining order barring further tree cutting until October 26, with any irreversible change to the course requiring three business days' written notice to the court and plaintiffs. At the October 12 hearing she rebuked the government for cutting 169 trees without notifying the court, and ordered Interior Department and National Park Service officials to testify on Monday, October 19, at 10 a.m.; that hearing is set to proceed. The figures in the case come from different parties and must be kept separate: a recent government filing puts the total removals planned at nearly 730 trees, while, as GSM reported on October 13, more than 430 trees had already been cut. (GSM, from CNN, Bloomberg Law and AP reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2026年10月12日自华盛顿纪念碑俯瞰东波托马克高尔夫球场，右侧可见砍树后清理出的地带。图片来源：G. Edward Johnson，CC BY 4.0，取自维基共享资源。Photo: East Potomac Golf Course seen from the Washington Monument on Oct. 12, 2026, with a cleared strip from tree removals visible at right. Source: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-11Crews Begin Removing 169 Trees at East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, DC
- 2026-10-13Judge Weighs Extending Halt in East Potomac Golf Links Tree-Cutting Case
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: DOJ Moves to Disqualify Judge in East Potomac Golf Course Case, Citing 'Deep-Seated and Unequivocal Antipathy'This story
- 2026-10-18Follow-Up: Trump Says East Potomac Golf Renovation Starts November 15 Despite Judge's Notice Order
- 2026-10-20Follow-Up: Interior Officials Tell Court East Potomac Golf Plan Is Not Final as Judge Declines to Recuse Herself
- 2026-10-26Follow-Up: Judge Extends Block on Trump's East Potomac Golf Course Renovation in Washington: No More Tree Removal, 10 Business Days' Notice Required
- 2026-10-29Follow-Up: Washington, District of Columbia: Trump Administration Confirms to Court the November 15 Closure of East Potomac Park for a Championship Golf Course
- 2026-10-30Washington, D.C.: Federal Judge Orders Investigation Into Whether the Government Misled the Court Over East Potomac Golf Course
