Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Donald Trump’s administration could face contempt hearings or sanctions if a federal judge finds evidence that officials destroyed documents related to the president’s Washington, D.C. renovation projects, including plans to close and renovate a public golf course.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes — who is overseeing the escalating legal battle over Trump’s plans to turn East Potomac Golf Links and a surrounding park into a “World Class, championship-level golf course” — is prepared to launch those hearings in a “zeptosecond.”
A zeptosecond, she explained, is the shortest amount of time ever measured.
“If I find credible evidence of any document destruction, I will start proceedings on sanctions or contempt within a zeptosecond,” she said during Friday’s hearing.
Her warning followed whistleblower reports to Democratic members of Congress that administration officials are allegedly destroying documents related to the president’s pet projects. Democrats have called on administration officials to “preserve existing records collections and productions” and “identify and recover any deleted information” and “suspend any destruction and deletion practices.”
The court case escalates a fight over what could be Trump’s biggest D.C. makeover project yet, putting the future of the nearly 400-acre public park at risk.
