Whistleblowers have told senior Democrats that the Department of the Interior has been destroying important records ahead of the opposition party’s expected return to power in Congress.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, has said he intends to investigate Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom and other construction projects, along with the Trump family’s involvement in mineral deals.
According to CNN, Huffman said whistleblowers had contacted the committee alleging that Interior officials were destroying records to shield them from possible congressional investigations.
The Interior Department, led by Doug Burgum, has been closely involved in several Trump-backed efforts to beautify federal landmarks and national parkland, including work around 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 private companies doing business in Washington, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and John Deere.
The letters instructed the recipients to “preserve all records and data responsive to oversight” by the committee.
No whistleblower has accused any of the companies, or any agency outside the Interior Department, of destroying documents.
However, everyone who received a letter must respond by affirming that they will preserve relevant records, recover deleted information where possible and halt any efforts to erase data.
Whistleblowers have told senior Democrats that the Interior Department destroyed important records ahead of the opposition party’s expected return to power in Congress. Pictured: Donald Trump shakes hands with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum
California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, has said he wants to investigate 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 hearings on several of Trump’s signature projects, including his proposed triumphal arch, efforts to overhaul a public golf course in Washington, DC, and the Tidal Basin Development Concept plan, which includes Trump’s Garden of American Heroes.
The projects are being pushed forward on an accelerated schedule before the new Congress convenes in January, prompting criticism from preservationists.
Several of the proposals require approval from federal agencies, creating pressure to move them ahead before Republicans relinquish control.
In a statement to CNN, the department said it “follows all federal records management obligations as directed by the Department’s ethics officials.”
Officials added that Huffman’s allegations were “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 daylight 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 intended to beautify 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 monument
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 significant setback by issuing a temporary restraining order barring his administration from beginning work on the proposed “Arc de Trump.”
The massive 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 as high as $100 million, but officials have not settled on a final amount or disclosed how the project would be financed.
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Chutkan had previously ordered the administration to notify her before construction began, giving her an opportunity to intervene before work started.
Her latest ruling has created even more uncertainty around the project’s schedule, leaving the proposed three-year construction plan in limbo.
The courtroom setback is not Trump’s only challenge. Democrats, buoyed by their historic midterm victories on Tuesday, have promised to stop the project when they assume control of the House and Senate in January.
“The Great Gatsby party is over,” Huffman warned shortly before a federal panel met to vote on Trump’s ambitious arch proposal.
A federal judge last week blocked construction of the arch, giving Huffman a victory 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,” he said. “It’s unthinkable that this would be allowed to proceed.”
Just hours before Chutkan issued her ruling, the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal body responsible for overseeing major construction and development in Washington, voted 8-4 to approve the proposed arch.
The contentious vote followed nearly nine hours of heated public testimony. Administration officials argued that construction could begin within the next 24 hours.
The decision underscored the widening divide between Trump’s supporters and local officials who have strongly opposed the monument.
Most supporters were members of the Trump administration or people closely aligned with the president, while opponents included representatives of Washington, DC.
Members of Congress, veterans, architects and residents from Washington and Virginia criticized the proposal, with some describing it as an extravagant monument to Trump’s ego.
“Trump is a president, not a king,” Rep. Huffman told the commission during Thursday afternoon’s hearing.
Marine veteran Jimi Shaughnessy said: “A dominating arch surrounded by 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 Washington, DC, and Virginia strongly opposed the proposal, with some calling it 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 officials from breaking ground,” he added.
The project was quickly thrown into limbo after the Obama-appointed judge issued a 14-day restraining order prohibiting the government from undertaking any “construction-related activity” while the legal battle continues.
Chutkan granted the order at the request of Virginia and the District of Columbia, which filed a lawsuit challenging construction of the arch on October 31.
She later combined that case with an earlier lawsuit filed by Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian who are also challenging the proposed monument.
The judge had already questioned the administration’s attempt to fast-track construction while the litigation was ongoing, signaling that she was unconvinced by its last-minute effort to recast the arch as a military complex.
Trump revealed late last month that the structure would also serve as a military facility, housing drones and ammunition for rapid deployment in “large numbers” and offering 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.
Construction on elements of Trump’s proposed White House ballroom has continued, with funding drawn from the Secret Service budget even as parts of the project remain the subject of lawsuits.
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