Judge lashes out at DOJ lawyer claiming 'executive privilege' on Trump’s posts

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 26, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

The Justice Department is in hot water Friday as they're facing off against a judge who made it clear she's lost all trust in the truthfulness of the government she placed her faith in.

While she began the hearing asking whether the DOJ needed to "correct the record" about any possible misstatements, it didn't get much better from there.

According to courts and justice reporter Chris Geidner, who publishes the "Law Dork" Substack, Judge Reyes called Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. to the stand to find out who ordered them to circumvent her previous court ruling.

Reyes began by asking Woodward about Trump's statements on Truth Social saying that the course will be closed down on Nov. 15.

“There was not a plan to close the course on Oct. 26," said Woodward.

“You are telling me, even now, that there was no plan even on Oct. 26?" she questioned.

Woodward said he can't "hypothesize."

“I’m not hypothesizing. I’m reading what he wrote," the judge shot back. She read the Truth Social post aloud.

After conferring with those at the lawyer's desk, the ultimate answer was about a “directive,” but Woodward still says he is “reticent to put meaning” behind the president’s words.

The judge asked, "You 'cannot say' what the president meant when he said the course will close on Nov. 15?"

Woodward agreed, saying that it falls within "executive privilege."

"He posted it publicly!" the judge exclaimed. She went on to call it an "extraordinary view of executive privilege."

As the Constitution outlines, executive privilege is the president’s claimed authority to withhold certain confidential executive-branch information from Congress or the courts, especially communications with senior advisers. It is meant to protect candid decision-making, but it is not absolute: courts can require disclosure when another branch’s need for the information — such as in a criminal case — outweighs the confidentiality interest.

As AlterNet previously reported, the ordeal "began on Oct. 12, the federal court brought the White House into court after it chopped down over 430 trees on Hains Point, where the public East Potomac Golf Course is, along with a biking and walking trail and other parks. The judge had told the government that she was to be notified before anything major was done to the island."

As Snopes reported on Oct. 16, that didn't happen. Instead, "the government only [notified] the court minutes prior to close of business on a holiday weekend."

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