🚨Judge SCREAMS at Trump Lawyers at EMERGENCY HEARING…
A federal judge in Washington D.C. just. screamed at Trump regime DOJ lawyers in. open court, and I mean screamed. Midas. Touch Washington D.C. Bureau Chief Scott. McFarland was in the court and reported. back to us everything he observed at. this hearing. The federal judge is Judge. Anna Reyes, and the case at issue. involves a lawsuit against the Trump. regime for the Trump regime's decision.
to destroy the East Potomac Public Golf. Course. A golf course when I went to. undergrad at George Washington. University and law school at Georgetown. that I played at and visited. It was. beautiful and incredible park open to. the public. The Trump regime wants to. turn it into a Donald Trump. Frankensteinian Trumpenstein golf. course. So, a D.C. preservation group. filed a lawsuit to block the Trump.
regime from destroying the golf course. and ripping up the trees and just making. a mess of the place as Donald Trump has. done throughout D.C. with other. landmarks. Now, at a prior court. hearing, the court and the Trump regime. lawyers reached an understanding and the. Trump regime lawyers promised, "We won't. rip down any trees or do any material. work on the East Potomac Public Golf. Course unless we provide sufficient.
notice to the court in advance." The. federal court Judge Reyes at that prior. hearing said, "Can I really trust you? I. better not find out that you have ripped. up trees and you're destroying the. course. Do I need to issue a written. order?" The Trump regime lawyer said, "We promise you don't need to do a. written order." The plaintiffs in the. case said, "Judge, you need to do a. written order. They lie about everything. and the judge says, "Well, they're. making this representation in open.
court. If they lie, there can be serious. consequences because they're making the. representation in open court. So, I. don't need to do a written order. I will. take their word for it." And what did. the Trump regime DOJ lawyers do? They. lied to the court. This weekend, here is. what we learned. The plaintiffs group. filed an emergency motion yesterday. saying, "The die has now been cast. Despite the court's admonitions, at 4:55.
p.m. on Friday, proceeding the holiday. weekend, defendants, Trump regime, announced their intent to begin. Barely. 12 hours later, a massive operation to. clear 529 trees at the East Potomac Golf. Course took place. Plaintiffs received. no more notice than the court did and. immediately requested a conference to. meet and confer. By 8:00 a.m. on. Saturday, defendants, Trump regime.
workers, had arrived in full force to. begin felling, destroying, ripping down. hundreds of trees, including healthy, mature oaks and maples. Defendants. counsel made themselves available to. meet and confer the afternoon of Sunday, October 11th. Shortly before that conference, defendants notified plaintiffs that. their tree raising operation was. proceeding faster than anticipated and.
that a total of 529. trees had already been destroyed on. Saturday alone and that, contrary to. their Friday declaration, hundreds of. additional trees would be felled. imminently. As defendants counsel. explained during the meet and confer, only the rain on Sunday delayed further. tree removal. Defendant's counsel. confirmed that the tree raising will. resume as soon as the weather permits. So, the plaintiffs in this case, they.
filed an emergency motion before the. federal judge, and the federal judge. held a hearing this morning. Judge Reyes. was furious, and she was screaming, and. she said, "I repeatedly told the. government to inform this court before. any major demolition work was done on. the golf course. The abrupt removal of. 500 trees without notice has cost the. government all credibility in this. case." She was yelling, "Ignorance is.
not an excuse," she told the DOJ after. they said they weren't aware of the. details of the tree cutting plan despite. having an inkling, and Kyle Cheney was. in the court as well. Now, Judge Reyes. was on a tear. Again, she was screaming, we hear, literally at the top of her. lungs. I'll bring in Scott MacFarlane in. a moment, but the way he describes it to. me was that it was like the loudest. coach yelling, basically. I was hearing. from everybody on plaintiff's side this.
was going to happen. I said repeatedly, "No, I trust the government. I trusted. you all not to do precisely what you. have done. Not only does that make it. inexcusable, I'm just at a total loss to. understand what has happened here other. than Occam's razor's time, that the. government precisely intended to do. precisely what it has done, which is. intentionally delay letting the. plaintiffs and the court know what is. happening so they can put a plan in.
place to clear hundreds and hundreds of. trees.". Reyes on her order to bar tree cutting. through at least tomorrow 7:00 a.m. If. that order is violated by 2 seconds, there's going to be contempt. proceedings. So, then she said, "I want. witnesses. I'm I'm going to do a mini. trial right now and get to the bottom of. who violated the court's prior. understanding with the DOJ. So you had. Kevin Grayce, the Park Service official. overseeing the golf course work, said.
the work is being done by 20 to 40. personnel who were initially tasked with. America's 250 DC projects, but then. assigned to this. Reyes then ordered. Deputy Director of the National Park. Service to testify. They brought on the. stand a guy named Frank Lands, the. Deputy Director of the National Park. Service, who said he was told to. implement the golf course plan by. Department of Interior Deputy Chief of.
Staff Greg Whisker. So Reyes says, find. Whisker, get him right now. We're going. to bring Whisker. We are doing a mini. trial fact-finding. We're going to get. to the bottom of this and the court may. hold somebody in contempt. Now, the. government said 430 trees, not the 529, were actually removed, but they lie. about everything. Then the federal judge. said, on what universe did anyone in. your office think this was acceptable? The Trump DOJ lawyer said, "Oh judge, we.
did our best, your honor." And then the. judge said, "No, you did not do your. best. You did your absolute worst is. what you did. Your absolute worst.". Also, the National Park Service. Superintendent who testified said there. was no identifiable hazard or safety. concerns among the 430 cut down trees. this weekend at East Potomac. So the. federal judge said, "Okay, so this was. just like you don't like the trees? So.
we're going to just start cutting down. oaks and maples and that's what you're. going to do and just violate the prior. order of the court? Seriously, that's. what you're doing?". And then Judge Reyes said, "Because we. are now talking about potential multiple. misrepresentations to the court, and the. only reason the only reason I have not. yet entered a show cause on contempt is. because I never put this in a formal. order, which believe me, I'm regretting. I want to see Greg Wisker testify. tomorrow, then I'll decide what I'm.
going to do in terms of contempt." Then. the Trump DOJ lawyer said, "Oh, we don't. want Greg Wisker to testify. Why is he. relevant?" To which the federal judge. says, "It's relevant to find out if I've. been lied to. I'm beyond disappointed in. the government right now." And she. extended the temporary restraining order. blocking further cutting down of the. trees, which was agreed to before. Greg. Wisker's going to be testifying. tomorrow. I want to bring in Scott. MacFarlane. Scott MacFarlane, of course,
heads the Midas Touch Network. Washington, D.C. Bureau. He also leads. Scott MacFarlane Reports. Make sure you. subscribe to Scott MacFarlane on his. YouTube channel. Also, get WTF America, the hardcover or the ebook or the. audiobook, the book that's coming out. next week that I wrote with my brothers. Let's bring in my interview with Scott. MacFarlane. He was inside the courtroom. Let's bring in that interview. Now, let's bring in Scott MacFarlane from. Scott MacFarlane Reports and from the. Midas Touch Network. Scott, great to see. you. You were in the court, so want to.
hear from you firsthand what you. observed during those proceedings today. >> Let's just start with the fundamentals, Ben. I've never seen anything like that. before. Imagine the loudest you've ever. screamed at somebody or the loudest. anybody's ever screamed at you. And. full-throated with everything you've. got. That's how loud Judge Ana Reyes was. yelling at the Department of Justice and. the Trump administration lawyers in. court. in a public hearing. for an extended period of time.
The fundamental dynamic here is. over the toppling of 430 trees. at the East Potomac Park Golf Course. overseen by the National Park Service. right there on the river in Washington. D.C. But it's not a dispute over trees. It's a dispute over the fundamental rule. of law. This is going to be the. battleground, at least one of the. battlegrounds Ben in which the judicial. branch tries to put a proper check on. the executive branch running wild. Pretty clear case here. The judge says,
"If you want to chop down trees, you got. to give me notice. You got to give the. plaintiffs notice." And what happens. with barely any notice, not sufficient. notice, the Park Service topples 430. trees on a Saturday morning. And the. judge is making clear here Ben, "You didn't listen to me. I was ignored. I couldn't have been more. clear." The Department of Justice she. said has lost all credibility. Now when you're talking about the judge. screaming as loud as you've ever heard. screaming, I mean we're talking like the.
loudest football coach, you know, yelling on the side like that's what it. was like? Like Mike Ditka, only. modern day. I mean. jawing at the attorneys and she didn't. stop and I think part of that was to. emphasize a point of you're not hearing. me. I told you you can't do this. You. said you heard me when I said it you. couldn't do this, but you went ahead and. did it anyhow. As the hearing developed, this was a 3-hour court hearing over the. tree toppling at a golf course in. Washington D.C. As the hearing.
developed, you could see nobody was. taking accountability. There was buck. passing. First of all by the Trump. administration lawyers. The judge asked, "Well then who made the actual decision. if not the lawyers?" And the lawyers. pointed to a National Park Service. supervisor, an obscure a federal. bureaucrat. The judge says, "Find that. person. Get that person into the. courtroom." Few minutes later, by Zoom, that National Park Service supervisor. appears. He hems and haws, answers a few. questions, but doesn't take ultimate. accountability for toppling the trees.
and he points to a deputy director at. the National Park Service. Judge stops. things, makes them track down the deputy. director of the National Park Service. who I swear was in his car and doing. this hearing by Zoom minutes later. That. went on for a while. He passed the buck. to the deputy chief of staff of. Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum. It's. a political actor now. The judge says, "Find that deputy chief. of staff.". The Trump administration lawyer said. they couldn't find him because of the. holiday, the Indigenous Peoples Day. holiday. The judge says, "Okay, I want.
him in court tomorrow. Somebody ignored. my orders and that can't be.". >> And then the Trump DOJ kind of pushed. they had the audacity after all of that. right to kind of push back on her there. and say, "Well, why would we have to. bring him?" And there was still a little. hemming and hawing over that order. because look, I think we all know where. this goes directly. Trump Trump made the. order to Burgum who said do this and I'm. sure there were people who were like,
"But the court." And they said, "Damn. the torpedoes, damn the court, cut down. the trees." I mean that's we kind of. know the ending of the story. Now it's. the cover-up, right? But that's what the. Trump DOJ wants to avoid and we all know. where this is heading, huh? >> Spot on. That was the seminal moment and. it came in the 11th hour of this. marathon hearing. The Department of Justice lawyers asked. the judge, "Why do we need to bring in. the deputy chief of staff of the. Department of Interior?" And the judge. said, "If you don't know the answer to. that question, you've got a bigger.
problem than I thought you do." Um it. was the subtext of this entire marathon. hearing. It was unspoken for the first 2. hours and 45 minutes that clearly this. came from some political person. There. was some direction given and you could. watch and hear, Ben, the career civil. servants trying to fall on those. landmines. as best they could on behalf of the. political people, but they just couldn't. get past Judge Reyes. She wanted the. buck to stop being passed. She wanted to. know who made the decision, and the. timeline here is important. It's not.
just about trees. The decision to cut down the trees was. made at some point in early October. The. trees were chopped down Saturday, October 10th. The judge and the. plaintiffs weren't notified till the. night of October 9th. That is not. sufficient notice, and a lot of time. went by between the decision and the. notification. That's where the judge. believes her orders were ignored. Perhaps there's going to be a contempt. issue here for whoever's responsible for. it. She's just trying to figure out. who's responsible for it, and you could. tell, like a dog on a bone, she's not.
going to let this go. >> Right, cuz in a prior hearing the Trump. DOJ told the judge, "You got nothing to. worry about." And then the plaintiffs'. lawyers representing the preservation. group were saying, "No, you do. You. can't trust them. If you don't do a written order, they're. going to chop down the trees, and we've. seen them do this before, so you got to. do it or And then the Trump lawyers, "Trust us. We would never do that." And.
then the judge says, "Look, I know about. the past that this Trump government, I. call regime, has done. Um but you're. giving me your word. So, you promise. that you will give the notice before any. material changes so we can do a. hearing?" "Judge, we promise.". And then the plaintiffs' lawyers filed. this emergency petition on Sunday, right, the day before Indigenous Peoples. Day, the day before today, and they.
said, uh the plaintiffs' lawyers said, "Look, they lied to you. We told you the. die has been cast. This is exactly what. we warned." And then there Talk to us. about that, cuz then the judge was like. "I actually can't believe that I even. trusted you." Like at some point there. was a moment there. Talk to us about. that. >> The plaintiffs' lawyers did, Ben, argue, "You can't take their word for it. because not just because we have a. suspicion, not just because we're. cynical, but because that's past. practice. The Department of Justice will.
try to circumvent court orders if they. can find the wiggle room to do so. The. plaintiffs' lawyers made that clear, and. I suppose they felt somewhat vindicated. today, but it's too late. They can't. reestablish 430 toppled trees. A few things, though. First of all, this. is not the first judge to tell the. Department of Justice, "You've lost your. credibility. I don't trust you." Same. thing happened in Oregon with a federal. judge amid these Department of Justice. attempts to seize voter rolls from. states. We've seen grand juries and.
judges say, "We don't trust what you're. presenting to us in court." That's why. some of the judges have expressed. concern about how they politically. weaponized their prosecutions, and grand. juries have rejected cases. But, there's. another case study, Ben, that came in. just the past 24 hours. The plaintiffs who've sued to get a. judge to halt those taxpayer-funded. Trump self-aggrandizing TV commercials. said, "Judge, you can't take their word. for it. They're claiming the ads are. done and that there's no further plan to.
air more ads effective October 12th.". But, the plaintiffs said, "You can't. believe them. They'll go back on their. word." A judge in New York seemed to. side with the plaintiffs and said, "You. know what? Here's a court order. No more. ads till we hash out this federal. lawsuit.". >> And talk before we go about perhaps. broader implications as we head past the. midterms and we can see a lot of. litigation being brought against Trump. and the DOJ, especially as Democrats are.
likely to control the House and perhaps. the Senate as well. That means they can. bring lawsuits now. And now you you. know, so when the Trump regime asserts. this privilege or that privilege and. does all of the things they want to do. to obstruct, they've now lost all. credibility in federal court at a time. where they would need it the most. Um, and so there's that aspect of it, too. The big picture, the broader game, which Donald Trump in his whole life has.
always myopically thought about the next. fraud, but I think we're going to see. that here. Before we go, any thoughts on. that? >> That's exactly the issue. This is more. than just about trees, and I. it's not lost on me that 430 trees being. knocked down is not a good thing, but. that's not the issue here. The issue is. if Democrats get control of Congress, issue subpoenas, order depositions, and. team Trump says, "Screw you. We're not. coming to your hearing. We're just not. going to do it." Then the courts have to. get involved, and if team Trump does not.
honor court orders, this whole thing. collapses. A Democratic US House and/or. Democratic US Senate is the real. pressure test on this democracy cuz. they're going to subpoena Trump's. records, they're going to subpoena. members of the cabinet or the staff, and. if team Trump just says, "No. We're just. not going to do it. Make us." It comes. down to judges like Anna Reyes or judges. in Oregon, California, New York, and. Florida to try to help Congress assert. its Article 1 authority, and we're about. to find out just how respectful team.
Trump is of judges' orders because. they're ignoring the judge apparently on. something as small as trees. >> Yeah, and the federal judge Reyes asked. the Trump lawyers, "So, were the trees. posing a danger, or was there some. reason you did it?" They were like, "No, we just did it." They just did it. And. so the judge was like, "You just did it. because you wanted to take down trees? Like, you did this because they had to. come down?" And so also there is an. aspect of it, too, which is just like,
you know, Trump and Doug Burgum were. like, "Just take them down, man. We. don't like the trees. We want them. down." And there's that which speaks to, you know, all of these broader, these. broader issues. But, Scott, thanks for. reporting from the courthouse. Appreciate you as well. Everybody. subscribe to Scott McFarland's YouTube. channel. Scott McFarland reports over. there. Subscribe to his Substack as. well. Scott, it's great to have you. leading our DC Bureau and appreciate all. the work you're doing.
>> Thank you, Ben. >> Everybody hit subscribe here. Let's get. to 7 million subscribers. But, more. importantly, subscribe to Scott's. YouTube channel. Hey, before you go, our. book WTF America is available for. pre-order now. It's the story of how we. got here and how we fight our way back. To pre-order, scan the QR code or click. the link in the description. Let's do. this. >> [music].
[music].
