Judge smacks down Trump effort to remove herself from golf course lawsuit

Overnight, Judge Ana Reyes denied President Donald Trump's motion to remove her from overseeing the East Potomac golf course case.

On Sunday, after Trump posted a Truth Social comment about the work he intends to do after removing all the historic cherry blossom trees, an emergency conversation took place. That sparked an immediate

The government argued that Judge Reyes showed bias against Trump and was overly emotional after she shredded the administration for defying her court orders.

Reyes had said that she trusted the government to do the right thing and follow her ruling over the golf course as the case worked its way through the system. That only lasted a few months before it was discovered that the Department of the Interior tore down over 500 trees on the small island in the middle of the Potomac River. Trump falsely claimed the trees were "diseased."

Reyes' filing was brutal, taking on each accusation by the Trump administration one by one.

"For months, the Court has declined Plaintiffs’ repeated requests to restrain the Government’s activities at East Potomac Golf Course. Time and again, it has credited Government counsel’s representations and refused to presume bad faith. The Government now seeks to disqualify the Court for bias," she began. "That is a serious charge. The Court answers it. With the record."

First, she quoted the administration's claim that she "unfairly questioned Trump Administration attorneys’ intelligence."

"Within minutes of the first hearing in this litigation, the Court praised Government counsel for filing 'one of the more exceptional government briefs I have seen in three years on the bench.' The 'writing was spectacular' and 'the analysis was spot on.' Later to the same counsel: '[Y]ou know I have an immense amount of respect for you. I think at every single hearing I have said that I think you’re doing an excellent job,'" she quoted.

The administration also claimed she had open hostility toward the government and said she was "prejudging the outcome of motions that are yet to be filed."

She remarked that plaintiffs "have asked for relief nearly a dozen times." Until recently, she's been cautious in ruling because, she said, "I’m going to step back, because I think that federal courts should not be involved in telling the Executive or Congress what to do unless we have to because the Constitution or the laws require us to."

So, she walked through the truth about what unfolded over the past week as the administration took.

"So what happened? Not sudden onset bias. Instead, the Government decided to remove over 500 healthy, non-invasive trees from East Potomac Golf Course," the judge wrote. "It waited until 4:55 p.m. on the Friday of a holiday weekend to give notice that it would begin removing trees within 15 hours. It removed nearly 430 trees in one day and would have destroyed hundreds more but for a rain delay. Plaintiffs moved for a temporary restraining order. The Government opposed the motion. The Court granted it," she wrote simply.

She made it clear that while she used strong words and was "furious," "district judges must sometimes take strong actions and use strong words." The final quote comes from court precedent, she noted, the case of Cobell v. Kempthorne.

The administration has refused to comply with orders in New Jersey (more than 50 times), Minnesota, Rhode Island, Illinois and several in Washington, D.C. No one in the Justice Department or the administration has been held in civil or criminal contempt of court.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance noticed that the administration's filing on Sunday left out the part in which the judge only became "furious" with the government "after they betrayed her trust. I did not leave that out when I wrote about the case last night, explaining her anger was justified in life of the government violating court orders."

Vance also implored her audience, "The Trump administration is counting on people not doing the hard work of democracy and staying up to speed on this. Prove them wrong."

Trump responded to it early Monday morning on Truth Social: "The United States Department of Interior wants to take a terrible and very unsafe golf course, and make it into a great, safe, and prestigious golf course. They have an absolute right to do so. It’s as simple as that! The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane? The tapes have been blocked from usage by the judge. The random golfer bringing the ridiculous lawsuit has ZERO STANDING! The experts at “Interior” are allowed to do this First Class renovation “as of right.” They do not need an approval. Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY! The finished product will be World Class, and bring income and great prestige back to D.C. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT"