The court fight over President Donald Trump's plan to rebuild East Potomac Golf Links escalated on Saturday, when a federal judge moved to turn a special investigator loose on the government's own lawyers.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes gave notice that she intends to appoint Jessie K. Liu as a special master to examine whether attorneys for the Justice and Interior departments "have committed ethical violations" while defending the project.

"The Court gives Notice of its intent to appoint former United States Attorney Jessie K. Liu as the Special Master," the judge wrote.

The notice followed an Oct. 30 hearing at which Reyes ordered the ethics inquiry. She alleged government lawyers may have misrepresented whether the administration planned to push ahead despite her order blocking the work.

"Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president," she said from the bench at an earlier hearing. The Interior Department called her a left-wing activist bent on blocking the president's beautification agenda.

The battle over Trump's plans to remake the nation's capital is only likely to intensify as Democrats, who won control of both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterms, prepare to use their new subpoena power on Trump's renovation projects at the White House and other Washington landmarks.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the incoming House Oversight chairman, issued a stark two-word warning: "Lawyer up."

Who is Jessie Liu?

Liu is a Trump appointee. The president tapped her as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a post she held from 2017 to 2020 after earlier Justice and Treasury posts.

Her office oversaw the prosecution of longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and handled matters referred by special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

Trump later nominated her to a senior Treasury post, but later withdrew the nomination, in February 2020, after criticism from Republican lawmakers. After Trump withdrew her nomination, she departed the government. After years at Skadden Arps, Liu and two other former prosecutors in April launched their own Washington firm, Liu Shur Kravis.

The McCabe case

Liu was at the center of the case against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whom the Justice Department inspector general found had lacked candor about a 2016 media leak.

In September 2019, Liu recommended moving forward with charges, and the department rejected McCabe's appeal. But McCabe's lawyers wrote to Liu that they had heard a grand jury declined to indict, and urged her not to resubmit the case. No indictment was ever returned. After one team concluded it couldn't win a conviction, Liu assigned a second team, which also came up empty.

Shortly after Liu's departure in February 2020, prosecutors formally closed the case. The failure to indict impacted her nomination after a senate staffer reportedly wrote a memo to the president urging him to drop her, citing the McCabe prosecution outcome.

Inheriting Mueller's cases

When special counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up in March 2019, Liu's office took over much of his unfinished investigations. That included the prosecutions of Stone and former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates, and the case against Concord Management, the Russian firm accused of bankrolling an online trolling operation. A jury convicted Stone on every count in November 2019.

Her office also later handled ex-Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's case, which has drawn heavy criticism from Trump allies. In January 2020, after Flynn moved to withdraw his guilty plea, prosecutors recommended a sentence that could include jail time in contrast to an earlier recommendation of probation.

Trump had been lobbied heavily against Liu over her handling of Mueller-originated cases, including by a Republican Senate staffer upset about Flynn, the Washington Post reported. On the day Liu left, the department softened its Flynn recommendation.

Why the golf course is in court

The DC Preservation League and two local golfers sued the Interior Department and National Park Service in February. They argue the overhaul violates federal environmental law and the 1897 act of Congress that created the park, which says the land is to be "forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people."

The outcry began in late 2025, when the Park Service started dumping roughly 30,000 cubic yards of East Wing demolition debris on the course grounds and the Interior Department canceled the lease of the nonprofit that ran it. The plaintiffs contend the government is slicing the project into smaller pieces to dodge required environmental reviews.

For months, Justice Department lawyers told the court there was no formal renovation plan, which conflicted with work on the grounds and the president's own announcements. Crews cut down more than 400 trees in October, and Trump announced on Truth Social that the "old, broken, dilapidated" course would close Nov. 15 for about 15 months.

On Oct. 26, Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requiring 10 business days' notice before any closure or irreversible change. The plaintiffs asked the judge on Thursday to block the Nov. 15 closure outright.

What locals think

The course once hosted upward of 80,000 rounds a year with greens fees topping out at $48, and the surrounding park draws cyclists, runners and anglers. Locals previously told DC News Now they fear the remodel will price out most current players.

The most controversial part of the plan is the administration's plan to eliminate Hains Point and cycling paths around the course. On Oct. 31, hundreds rallied at the park in the fourth protest organized by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

No poll has measured the golf plan alone, but a July Washington Post-Ipsos survey found 65% of Americans dissatisfied or upset with Trump's ballroom, Reflecting Pool and arch projects.

The White House says Trump is bringing his developer's eye to the capital's public links. Trump has also said D.C. residents would get a lower rate than other golfers.

Other projects in court

The golf course is one of at least 18 Trump renovation projects in the capital, with a potential price tag above $1.2 billion. The projects are set to face even greater scrutiny now that the Democrats have secured control of Congress.

The White House ballroom drew a suit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argued the president needed Congress' approval. 

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered construction halted in March, and the D.C. Circuit affirmed. But on Aug. 31, a five-justice Supreme Court majority stayed that order, finding the Trust likely lacks standing. Whether Trump needs Congress' approval remains unresolved.

The proposed 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle hit a wall Thursday. Hours after the planning commission approved it, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan barred construction for 14 days, siding for now with Vietnam veterans, the District and Virginia.

Those plaintiffs argue Congress must sign off. Starting in January, Democrats will control the Congress that would have to do so.