Records of Trump’s Arch and Golf Course Already Destroyed: Whistleblowers

Whistleblowers told House Democrats that key records on President Donald Trump’s construction projects in Washington had already been destroyed, CNN reported, citing congressional sources.

The Interior Department denied the allegations, calling them “100% false.”

Several whistleblowers approached the House Natural Resources Committee in recent weeks, the sources said.

They alleged that Interior was disposing of records ahead of congressional scrutiny.

The department oversees much of the federal parkland Trump wants to use for his projects.

A spokesperson said the department complies with federal records management requirements.

Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the committee’s top Democrat, plans to send letters Tuesday asking Interior, other federal agencies and private companies to preserve records and data within the panel’s oversight remit, according to letters shared with CNN.

The recipients include the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, both part of Interior, as well as the Agriculture Department and corporate donors Lockheed Martin and John Deere.

The whistleblowers’ allegations concerned the Interior Department.

The letters ask every recipient to certify compliance, suspend record destruction and deletion, and try to recover any information already deleted.

Arch and Golf Course Face Scrutiny

Huffman is set to chair the committee when Democrats take control of Congress in January.

Aides expect an early hearing, with the proposed triumphal arch and plans for East Potomac Golf Links among the committee’s priorities.

The panel is prepared to issue subpoenas if the administration obstructs its inquiries, CNN reported.

Huffman said the committee could go to court if necessary and believed it had the tools to stop some projects.

The panel is also coordinating with the House Oversight and Judiciary committees on scrutiny of the administration.

People familiar with the approval process told CNN that the administration is moving to advance the projects as far as possible before the end of the year.

The arch and golf course, along with fencing at Lafayette Square and a Tidal Basin plan that includes Trump’s Garden of American Heroes, are expected to go before federal agencies for approval or advance through historic preservation reviews over the next 60 days.

Trump appeared at the White House ballroom construction site the day after the midterm elections and signed the final steel beam before it was raised.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump was moving “at lightning speed.”