DOJ Withdraws $41M Cost Claim in Kennedy Center Closure Case, Admitting It Cited the Wrong Report Version
WASHINGTON, DC — The lawsuit over the temporary closure of the Kennedy Center in the District of Columbia took a new turn: federal court filings disclosed on October 22 show that the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a "notice of correction" in the case, withdrawing its core cost argument. The government had said a phased renovation would cost $41 million more than a temporary full closure; the correction acknowledges that the comparison cited not the June 8 consulting report (160 pages) that the board received before its August 13 meeting, but a different version (180 pages) delivered to the center on August 20, which the board had never seen before voting. DOJ lawyers wrote that "the defendants regret these errors," said the updated report had been turned over to the plaintiffs in discovery, and offered no replacement cost comparison. The case was brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat, and is before U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper; it concerns the Trump administration's plan to remodel and close the Kennedy Center.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 肯尼迪艺术中心航拍。图片：OhanaSurf，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Kennedy Center, aerial view, Washington, DC. Photo: OhanaSurf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
