U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks to the media as U.S. President Donald Trump listens, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025.
Three hours into court proceedings at the Washington, D.C., federal court, Judge Ana Reyes made it clear that she no longer has faith or trust in the U.S. government, and that includes the Department of Justice.
AlterNet has been following the proceedings in which the judge unleashed a torrent of fury on lawyers for intentionally filing a notice that they were going to chop down hundreds of historic cherry blossom trees over the holiday weekend at 4:55 p.m. on Friday ahead of the holiday weekend. Less than 24 hours later, the trees were gone.
The morning session involved the furious judge shouting at the top of her lungs. It was so startling that former CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane said he'd never heard a judge so angry or shout so much at government lawyers.
One by one, the judge called in National Park Service employees and demanded that Department of the Interior officials appear in court not "as soon as possible" but immediately.
Each employee passed the buck, characterized MacFarlane. They claimed they weren't the decision-makers behind tearing down the trees so quickly and defying the court's instructions.
As she looked to next steps, the judge confessed how disappointed she was to see her faith in the federal government shaken so severely.
Lawfare senior editor Molly Roberts was among those in the courtroom to hear Judge Reyes close the day with a lecture directed at President Donald Trump's administration.
"I have repeatedly on the record rejected plaintiffs' requests for notification order because I told them, I told the American public, 'You can trust the government,'" the judge said. "I do not understand why this went forward on Saturday. Why did this go forward on Saturday?"
Those who spoke under oath made it clear that there was no sense of urgency to pull the trees out.
"Why did no one...raise their hand and say, hey...maybe we should take a beat so we don't chop down hundreds of trees when the court has said repeatedly that she's gonna trust us to act in good faith?" the judge asked. "Let me ask you this, counsel: do you think the government acted in good faith on Friday or Saturday? I'm not going to ask you that question. I'm going to withdraw that question."
"I have not wanted to enter a TRO (temporary restraining order). I have not wanted to enter a PI (preliminary injunction). I have time and time and time again avoided doing that...because I actually don't think courts should be playing Parks and Rec," the judge continued. There are now 300 more trees that will be cut down, "and I have no faith the government isn't gonna cut them down unless there's an order in place not to do so."
"So now we're all gonna have a massive fire drill because the government can't be trusted. Unless you're gonna tell me that the government can be trusted?" the judge said, presenting the next steps.
Everything on the golf course will be paused for 72 hours. Nothing can happen without that 72-hour notice ahead of time, as they move through more questions to Trump staff to find the person responsible for the demands.
She wants to hear from Greg Wischer, a "critical minerals consultant," first hired by Trump in March 2025. He is now the Department of Interior deputy chief of staff for policy. He's also the staffer who told the NPS to move forward with cutting down all of the trees.
Greg Wischer told everyone to move forward, they testified. He graduated from Georgetown University just four years ago with his master's in security studies, according to his LinkedIn. He has not yet turned 30 years old.
The DOJ said that Wischer won't reveal anything important. Judge Reyes said, "If you don't understand the relevance, the government has a much bigger problem than I understood it to have."
Roberts, who continued transcribing the judge's comments on BlueSky, said that the judge presented her questions go to "whether or not I've been lied to. Whether I've been lied to in the declarations about the plan, whether I've been lied to about the timing of things, whether I've been lied to about what kind of notice the court was going to receive. I am beyond disappointed in the government right now. I wanted you all to be better than you have been. I really did want you all to be better than you've shown yourselves to be, at least with respect to this case."
"The only reason I have not yet entered a 'show cause' for contempt is I never put this in a formal order," she closed.
Everyone will return on Tuesday.
The cherry blossoms in question were a gift from Japan in 1910 and a golf course was then built around them. Over the years, more have been added to line the biking/walking path that circles the course. Thus far over 500 trees have been removed.
In the afternoon session, Park Service supervisor Kevin Greiss answered questions, confessing that the "discussions began on Oct. 6 at 5:39 p.m." about the tree removal.
According to MacFarlane, the judge is "livid that the court and plaintiffs weren't notified til PM on Oct. 9," AlterNet's earlier report captured.
