President Trump envisions an 18-hole “championship” golf course at the National Mall’s East Potomac Park and even has a construction start date. What he doesn’t have yet, according to the Justice Department, is a signed contract.
Mr. Trump said Fazio Design, run by course designer Tom Fazio, has developed the renovation plan.
But Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. told a federal judge late Monday that he hasn’t been able to find evidence of a contract.
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“Nevertheless, the undersigned counsel has consulted with the Office of the White House Counsel and based on that consultation, and an otherwise diligent inquiry, reasonably believes that no contract exists between Tom Fazio, or Gavin Fazio, or Fazio Design and the United States for work to design or otherwise renovate the East Potomac Golf Course,” Mr. Woodward said.
Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee who has turned the golf course into a major constitutional clash, had expressed disbelief at the idea that Mr. Fazio would be doing so much design work without a contract.
She has become convinced that the president has had secret renovation plans in the works for months and has been hoodwinking her about them.
Mr. Trump’s social media posts have only fueled that sentiment, with the president regularly undercutting his own lawyers as they argued previous work on the course, such as slashing hundreds of trees, was unrelated to Mr. Trump’s vision of a redesign.
Judge Reyes opened one hearing with 20 minutes of self-admitted fury at the government, then spent part of last week’s follow-up cracking jokes and taunting Mr. Woodward over his handling of the case.
Her belief that she’s been fooled fueled her feelings that the government was hiding a contract from her.
“I want to know if there’s any contract. So I want you guys to go back and find out if the White House or anyone has signed a contract with Mr. Fazio, because I find it impossible that we have plans and all this work from Mr. Fazio, and even if he’s doing it pro bono, that there’s no contract anywhere,” she said. “I just don’t find that credible.”
Mr. Woodward has accused the judge of an unprecedented crusade on the golf course, turning a question of tree-trimming into a hunt for secret deals and hidden motives.
In his brief Monday, he said the government doesn’t think Judge Reyes was in a position to demand the contract information from the White House, which isn’t a party to the lawsuit and is shielded by presidential privileges.
Still, he said he checked with White House lawyers to learn what he could.
The D.C. Preservation League has sued to upend Mr. Trump’s construction plans.
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