The House Democrat who is fighting to save the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts warned a Washington judge that President Donald Trump was spotted reading a placard that appeared to say “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED” while his allies “appear to be actively considering the demolition of the Center.”
The warning came in court filings Thursday from Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, the center board member who successfully sued for the removal of Trump’s name from the cultural institution and is continuing her courtroom battle to maintain it as a memorial to Kennedy, as required by law.
Trump has tied the future of the institution to whether he is personally recognized by name on it.
One of Beatty’s new filings said that the photo showing Trump reading the placard while on Air Force One had been circulating on social media. The filing also said the president told reporters Wednesday that “for the Trump administration, for me, to get involved, and to take on long-term, and to carry it, or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close, it will end up being ripped down.”
Beatty’s filing came ahead of the administration’s response, which was already due Thursday morning, to her latest emergency motion regarding what she called the “unlawful closure of the Kennedy Center” by Trump’s allies on the board. She said they could be violating a court order.
“Given the emergency nature of this matter and Defendants’ 10 a.m. filing deadline for their response to Plaintiff’s motion, Plaintiff wanted to make sure the Court and Defendants are aware of this new information,” Beatty said in the Thursday morning filing.
In its response opposing Beatty’s emergency motion, the administration maintained that it was in compliance with court orders and that there was “no emergency” caused by what it called the “temporary closure of the Center.” It said “the only emergency is the risk to the public and the Center’s employees and artists if it remained fully open without further safety assessment.”
The district judge presiding over the matter, Obama appointee Christopher Cooper, said Wednesday in setting the latest litigation schedule that he would “schedule a prompt hearing if necessary after reviewing the response” that just came in from the administration, which is simultaneously appealing Cooper’s rulings against the board’s Trump-favored efforts.
In a reply filing on Thursday, Beatty cited the new Trump photo and statements in writing to the judge that “[n]ew evidence now shows that Defendants appear to be actively considering the demolition of the Center — something that they have also threatened in their papers before the Court.” Writing that such a demolition would violate a prior court order issued by Cooper, she asked the judge to “make crystal clear” that the structure cannot be demolished.
The next step in the fast-moving litigation in the trial court is set to come from Cooper after he reviews the administration’s response.
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