by
Heather
Diehl/Getty
Images)
Last
week
there
was
a
hearing
in
the
case
brought
by
the
National
Trust
for
Historic
Preservation
over
the
Trump
administration’s
unilateral
demolition
of
the
East
Wing
of
the
White
House.
Remember,
Donald
Trump
intends
to
build
a
$400
million
White
House
ballroom
(funded
privately,
more
on
that
later)
on
top
of
the
torn
down
East
Wing
site,
with
exactly
zero
Congressional
approval
or
oversight.
But,
well,
the
presiding
judge,
Richard
Leon,
has
some
questions
about
it
all.
Attorney
Anne
P.
Mitchell
calls
out
some
of
the
more
interesting
exchanges
at
the
hearing
on
her
Substack.
And
it’s
pretty
clear
Judge
Leon
has
run
out
of
patience.
From
the
get-go,
Judge
Leon
was
unimpressed
with
the
government’s
(lack
of)
argument.
Emphasis
absolutely
added,
“First,
the
president’s
constitutional
authority
to
construct
the
ballroom.
I
appreciate
that
the
Government
chose
not
to
focus
on
this
issue
in
their
brief.
That’s
your
choice.
But
if
you’re
not
arguing
the
president
is
acting
pursuant
to
his
constitutional
authority,
I
want
you
to
state
clearly
—
emphasis
on
the
word
“clearly”
—
where
the
president
gets
the
authority
to
demolish
the
East
Wing
and
construct
the
ballroom.”
And
that
funding
I
lampshaded
earlier?
Judge
Leon
derogatorily
referred
to
the
financing
as
a
“Rube
Goldberg
contraption”
multiple
times
during
the
hearing.
Which…
considering
the
donations
are
collected
by
a
nonprofit
organization,
turned
over
to
the
National
Park
Service,
and
then
handed
over
to the
Executive
Residence
at
the
White
House,
which
is
overseen
by
Trump,
feels
just
about
right.
But,
for
my
money,
the
interactions
between
Judge
Leon
and
the
administration’s
attorney
Jacob
Roth
are
iconic.
THE
COURT:
And
your
best
effort
to
demonstrate
to
this
Court
that
the
Congress
intended
this
to
be
used
for
a
purpose
of
this
size
and
proportion
on
an
icon
that’s
a
national
institution
is
what?
Is
what?MR.
ROTH:
Well,
Your
Honor,
I
think
that
I
would
point
to
the
OLC
opinion.
Obviously,
a
pool
is
different.THE
COURT:
The
’77
—MR.
ROTH:
Yeah.THE
COURT:
The
Gerald
Ford
swimming
pool?
You
compare
that
to
ripping
down
the
East
Wing
and
building
a
new
East
Wing?
Come
on.MR.
ROTH:
I’m
not
comparing
—THE
COURT:
Be
serious.
Be
serious?!?!
::Chef’s
kiss::
For
real,
if
a
federal
judge
snapped
at
my
arguments
like
that
I’d
curl
up
and
die
on
the
spot.
But
if
you
had
that
much
shame,
you
probably
aren’t
working
for
this
administration.
So
Roth
has
an
upward
hill
to
climb
to
get
Judge
Leon
on
board
with
the
unique
argument
the
government
is
making.
Something
the
judge
acknowledged
at
the
end
of
Roth’s
comments.
MR.
ROTH:
Your
Honor,
did
I
address
all
the
questions
that
Your
Honor
had
at
the
outset?THE
COURT:
You
did
the
best
you
could.
That’s
yet
another
devastating
line
from
Judge
Leon.
Leon’s
ruling
is
expecting
next
month,
but
I’m
pretty
sure
we’ve
already
gotten
a
preview.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
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@Kathryn1 or
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@[email protected].