US District Judge Ana Reyes announced Saturday that she intends to appoint Jessie Liu, a former US attorney for the District of Columbia during Trump's first term, to investigate whether she was purposefully misled by government lawyers in a lawsuit over the East Potomac Golf Course renovation.

The case, brought in February by the DC Preservation League and two golfers, challenges the planned closure of the historic public course along the Potomac River, scheduled for Nov. 15 to build what Trump calls a 'World Class, championship-level golf course.'

Liu would examine whether Interior Department, National Park Service and Justice Department officials violated ethics or misled the court.

The move is striking because Reyes had earlier rejected numerous motions from the plaintiffs to intervene, telling the court she trusted the government attorneys. She announced during an Oct.

30 hearing that she was starting a formal investigation of the government's conduct, a shift Georgetown law professor David Super told PBS can be 'a precursor to holding someone in contempt of court.'

Super said the special master approach reflects the difficulty she had in determining who initiated the tree-cutting in defiance of DOJ assurances, since she lacks time for long, complex hearings.

Tensions escalated after Truth Social posts by Trump beginning Oct. 18 revealed the golf course plans, yet administration officials could not confirm their existence under questioning from Reyes, who eventually asked whom she should trust.

The Justice Department filed notice Oct. 28 that the plans were real.

Reyes also wants to know whether officials were truthful about steps including the cutting of hundreds of trees early last month, prompting her injunction barring removal of more trees and requiring 10 days' written notice before any 'irreparable modification.'

The case tests the limits of a president's plans for a prized Washington public asset against preservation litigation, and it directly examines whether the executive branch lied to a federal judge.

Reyes, a Biden nominee, is weighing whether officials lied about the extent of renovation plans during months of hearings.

If the investigation finds officials misled the court, accountability could reach Interior, National Park Service and DOJ attorneys, and the injunction already constrains what the administration may do to the course while the lawsuit is active.

Reyes is giving each side a chance to be heard on her plan to name Liu as special master, with written submissions due by Friday, when the next court hearing in the dispute is scheduled.

Liu brings an unusual résumé to the role: as DC's chief federal prosecutor she oversaw matters referred by special counsel Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia investigation, and Trump later nominated her for associate attorney general before she withdrew after Senate Judiciary Committee opposition, according to reporting in the source pack.

The administration separately sought to remove Reyes from the case, accusing her of 'egregious' behavior.