Judge Reads Ethics Rules to Administration Lawyers

President Trump's golf course overhaul in Washington has triggered a rare integrity probe of the Justice Department. US District Judge Ana Reyes on Friday said she will appoint a special master to investigate whether Interior and Justice Department officials misled her about plans to close and redesign East Potomac Golf Links—plans Trump touted on Truth Social for a Nov. 15 shutdown while government lawyers told the court no such plan existed, the Washington Post reports.

Reyes, who has clashed repeatedly with the administration's legal team and whose exasperation appears to have been increasing for weeks, per Politico, read out ethics rules in court. She accused the lawyers of "playing games" with wording and questioned why a course design submission and mass tree removals were kept from the court. Reyes stressed that the inquiry does not assume misconduct; if no special master is named, she'll run it herself.