Judge Appoints Special Master to Determine if Trump Officials Lied in Golf Course Suit

A federal judge appointed a special master on Friday to investigate the possibility that the Trump administration concealed plans to overhaul East Potomac Park in Washington as the president called for construction of a professional golf course at the site.

The appointment of an outside investigator represented an escalation in a confrontation between Judge Ana C. Reyes and the Trump administration over a municipal golf course and park in the nation’s capital.

Judge Reyes, who was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., had repeatedly clashed with the Justice Department in the case. She has displayed frustration with what she described as misleading attempts by officials to downplay how firm the federal government’s plans were for the park.

Her order followed a remarkable standoff with Stanley Woodward Jr., the third most senior official at the Justice Department, at a hearing Friday. At issue was whether he had personally lied in court when he told Judge Reyes that there was no immediate plan to close the course or start construction. Those comments came days after President Trump had announced on social media that work was scheduled to begin “IMMEDIATELY!”

The government acknowledged in a filing this week that it planned to close most of the park Nov. 15.

Judge Reyes emphasized on Friday that her decision did not amount to a finding that either Interior Department officials or the Justice Department lawyers had violated any rules of personal conduct. But she had already concluded at an earlier stage of the lawsuit that one senior official, Gregory Wischer, had probably withheld some of what he knew about the agency’s plans for the site.

Mr. Trump has spoken publicly for months about his desire to replace the municipal golf course in the park with a larger, more difficult one that could host professional tournaments, closely resembling the courses he owns and operates elsewhere.

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