Whistleblowers have told senior Democrats that the Department of the Interior has been destroying important records ahead of the left’s expected takeover of Congress.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, has said he plans to investigate President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom and other construction projects, along with the Trump family’s involvement in mineral deals.
According to CNN, Huffman said whistleblowers approached the committee with allegations that Interior officials were destroying records to avoid possible congressional investigations.
The Interior Department, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, has been closely involved in several Trump-backed projects intended to beautify national landmarks, including work connected to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
On Tuesday, Huffman sent multiple letters to department officials, the directors of the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service, and executives at several companies doing business in Washington, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and John Deere.
The letters instructed the recipients to preserve all records and data relevant to the committee’s oversight work.
The whistleblowers have not accused any of the private companies, or agencies outside the Interior Department, of destroying documents.
However, every recipient was asked to confirm that records would be preserved, deleted information would be recovered where possible, and any efforts to erase material would be halted.
Whistleblowers have told senior Democrats that the Interior Department destroyed important records before the left is expected to take control of Congress. Pictured: Donald Trump shakes hands with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
California Rep. Jared Huffman, the Natural Resources Committee’s ranking Democrat, has said he wants to examine Trump’s White House ballroom and other construction projects, as well as the Trump family’s role in mineral deals.
Huffman’s aides said the committee plans to hold hearings on several of Trump’s signature projects, including his proposed triumphal arch, efforts to overhaul a public golf course in Washington and the Tidal Basin Development Concept plan, which includes Trump’s Garden of American Heroes.
The projects are being fast-tracked for completion before the new Congress convenes in January, drawing criticism from preservationists.
Several of the proposals require approval from federal agencies, creating a race against time before Republicans potentially lose control of Congress.
In a statement to CNN, the Interior Department said it “follows all federal records management obligations as directed by the Department’s ethics officials.”
The department described Huffman’s allegations as “100 percent false.”
“President Trump is moving at lightning speed because we don’t have time to waste in our mission to make America greater than ever before,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said.
“For two years, this administration has stonewalled us and kept the American people in the dark while Democrats have fought tirelessly to expose and stop their corruption. Those days of obstruction are over,” Huffman said.
“I am sending a message to President Trump and his allies: our investigations will continue full steam ahead. And to every agency official and corporate executive receiving these letters: save everything. The American people deserve to know what you did with their government and their money, and we intend to get them answers.”
Under Doug Burgum, the Interior Department has focused heavily on several Trump projects aimed at beautifying national parkland, including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
A federal judge blocked construction of Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” in Washington on Thursday night. Pictured: a mockup of the proposed arch.
Last week, a federal judge delivered Huffman a victory by blocking construction of the arch just hours after the administration said work could begin “immediately.”
Judge Tanya Chutkan dealt Trump a major setback by issuing a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from beginning work on the proposed “Arc de Trump.”
The enormous monument is planned for a site near Arlington National Cemetery and would rise approximately 25 stories above the ground. Its final cost, however, remains unclear.
Estimates have placed the price at as much as $100 million, but officials have not finalized the figure or explained how the project would be funded.
Chutkan had previously ordered the administration to provide advance notice before construction began, giving her an opportunity to intervene before work started.
Her latest order has created further uncertainty around the project’s schedule, leaving the proposed three-year construction plan on hold.
The legal setback is not Trump’s only challenge. Democrats, buoyed by their historic midterm victories on Tuesday, have promised to stop the project when they take control of the House and Senate in January.
“The Great Gatsby party is over,” Huffman warned just hours before a federal panel met to vote on the proposed arch.
A federal judge blocked construction of the arch last week, just hours after the administration said work could begin “immediately.”
“The arch is an illegal project. It’s a monstrosity. It’s a slap in the face to veterans and to the history and aesthetics of this sacred place,” Huffman said. “It’s unthinkable that this would be allowed to proceed.”
Only hours before Chutkan issued her ruling, the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal agency responsible for overseeing major development in Washington, voted 8-4 to approve the proposed arch.
The contentious vote followed nearly nine hours of heated public testimony, during which administration officials said construction could begin within 24 hours.
The decision highlighted the widening divide between Trump’s allies and local officials who have strongly opposed the monument.
Supporters included members of the Trump administration and people closely aligned with the president, while opposition came largely from representatives of Washington, DC.
Members of Congress, veterans, architects and residents of DC and Virginia criticized the proposal, with some calling it an extravagant monument to Trump’s ego.
“Trump is a president, not a king,” Huffman told the commission during Thursday afternoon’s hearing.
Marine veteran Jimi Shaughnessy said: “A dominating arch with a carnival-like atmosphere of tourists, food trucks and buses is abhorrent and insulting to those who gave all and to their families.”
Members of Congress, veterans, architects and residents from DC and Virginia strongly opposed the proposal, with some describing the structure as an extravagant tribute to Trump’s ego.
“Instead of focusing on the issues facing military families, this administration is intent on spending taxpayer dollars to site, plan and design a monument no one asked for, while bypassing any laws or regulations that could prevent it from breaking ground,” he added.
The project was quickly thrown into limbo after the Obama-appointed judge issued a 14-day restraining order barring the government from carrying out any “construction-related activity” while the legal battle continues.
The order was issued at the request of Virginia and the District of Columbia, which filed a lawsuit challenging the arch’s construction on October 31.
Chutkan later combined that case with an earlier lawsuit filed by Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian, who are also opposing the proposed monument.
The judge had already expressed doubts about the administration’s attempt to fast-track construction while the litigation was pending. She also questioned its last-minute effort to recast the arch as a military complex.
Trump unexpectedly announced late last month that the arch would also serve as a military facility, housing drones and ammunition for rapid deployment in “large numbers” and providing rooftop and plaza positions for sniper teams.
In her ruling, Chutkan acknowledged the government’s “significant interest in national security” but said the newly asserted military functions were unsupported and notably absent from the project’s original planning documents.
The arch is not the first time Trump has cited security concerns to defend his architectural ambitions during his second term, as he seeks to leave both a symbolic and physical imprint on the nation’s capital.
Work on portions of Trump’s proposed White House ballroom has continued with funding from the Secret Service budget, even as parts of the project remain the subject of lawsuits.