'There are going to be serious consequences': Judge warns DOJ not to test her patience at end of odd emergency hearing on 'very dangerous' dead trees at golf course

The DOJ told a federal judge that if determination were signs astatine the East Potomac Golf Course implicit the play indicating a closure those weren't impervious that the Trump medication plans to forge up with renovations careless of what the courts person to say.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, a Joe Biden appointee, issued an bid precocious Sunday for the DOJ to record a effect successful the aboriginal greeting up of a hearing, pursuing an exigency question from the D.C. Preservation League to artifact President Donald Trump's "imminent takeover" of the play course.

Highlighting conscionable however rapidly the proceeding came together, the justice remarked, "I americium not presently successful a robe," and injected immoderate levity.

"May the 4th beryllium with everybody," Reyes said, bringing a Star Wars notation to the table.

The plaintiff's ineligible squad — rejecting the Department of Interior defendants' claims of regular attraction arsenic screen for "massive" and unlawful renovations — insisted that if the justice gave the Trump medication an inch, the authorities would instrumentality a mile, conscionable arsenic it has with the White House ballroom project.

To statesman to get to the bottommost of the situation, Reyes questioned National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Kevin Griess nether oath astir what is happening and what is planned.

After confirming that the witness' sanction was pronounced similar the movie "Grease," the justice asked, "What is happening today, this week?"

Griess answered that helium spoke with the attraction main successful idiosyncratic connected Friday but that "there's thing successful writing" astir what helium directed the worker to do. The superintendent stated that helium gave a verbal absorption to the main to bash a conditions assessment, for safety, fire, and quality issues, specifically owed to a "very dangerous" uncertain fig of "dead trees."

"Your Honor, I don't cognize however many, yet, that's portion of the assessment. But yes, there's not a grove of dormant trees, but the dormant trees are precise unsafe due to the fact that they interruption disconnected successful the wind," Griess said, framing it arsenic concern arsenic usual.

Attorney Will Bardwell chimed successful for the plaintiffs, urging Reyes not to place Trump's tree-removal activities astatine the Kennedy Center.

"I conscionable wanted to enactment for the grounds and adding to the crushed for a batch of skepticism here, this is precisely what the authorities utilized to warrant cutting down each the willow trees astatine the Kennedy Center," helium said. "The statement determination was that they were each dying and that they were conscionable portion of regular maintenance. Now, cutting down trees is the precise archetypal measurement successful a play people operation project, and truthful to your point, we are profoundly acrophobic that they are going to usage this arsenic an excuse to statesman hardcore operation nether the guise of taking down a dying tree. We don't privation what happened astatine the Kennedy Center."

Reyes heard those concerns but briskly formed them aside, commenting that she knew thing astir what happened astatine the Kennedy Center. What she wanted to cognize was whether thing was really happening today.

"There's nary absorption to execute yet," Griess said, telling Reyes that attraction has lone been directed to instrumentality inventory of trees that request to beryllium removed.

Reyes, making wide that she "do[es] not attraction astir play astatine all," past questioned the superintendent and the DOJ astir reports of signage that said the play people would beryllium closed.

The authorities said it wasn't alert of "any signs" and that determination hasn't been a "formal decision" to adjacent the play course.

While the justice did not contented an injunction, she sternly warned the DOJ's Michael Robertson to enactment the bureau defendants connected announcement that if the authorities does effort to instrumentality that mile, "there are going to beryllium superior consequences."

"Here's what I don't want, Mr. Robertson, I'm going to accidental this 1 much time," Reyes said. "I bash not privation a concern wherever thing has happened and past I'm being told by the authorities oregon by a instauration oregon by a bulldozing institution that it's excessively precocious to bash thing astir it."

"Let's conscionable say, fixed immoderate issues astir the territory recently, I would person a peculiar interest that things not hap — that we not inquire archetypal and inquire forgiveness aboriginal — due to the fact that that's not going to beryllium acceptable," she added. "And I privation you to marque definite that that's afloat communicated to the agency, due to the fact that if thing similar that happens, Mr. Robertson, determination are going to beryllium superior consequences."