By Michael Kunzelman
President Donald Trump’s administration is withholding records documenting the scope of his influence over management of the Kennedy Center, according to attorneys for a Democratic lawmaker challenging the Republican president’s plan to close the performing arts center for renovations.
A list of records in the Kennedy Center’s possession suggests that Trump has been in “near-constant contact” with the center’s management, either directly or through intermediaries, plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a court filing on Sunday.
Attorneys for Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, are seeking a court order for the administration to turn over documents, emails and text messages that it has withheld based on its claims that they contain privileged presidential communications.
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“These communications directly bear on the issues before the Court, and the claim of privilege cannot stand,” Beatty’s lawyers wrote.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper didn’t immediately rule on their request to compel disclosure of the records.
The list of withheld documents includes 19 text messages between Kennedy Center executive director and CEO Matt Floca and Trump executive assistant Natalie Harp regarding Kennedy Center-related matters. They exchanged 11 of those messages on Sept. 15, when the center’s board voted for a third time to close the facility, according to Beatty’s lawyers.
The list also includes approximately 180 center-related texts between Floca and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was acting as Trump’s “go-between,” Beatty’s lawyers say. The plaintiffs’ attorneys suspect the administration is engaging in impermissible “gamesmanship.”
“Without access to these materials, (Beatty) will lack a complete picture of Defendants’ actions,” they wrote.
The White House didn’t immediately comment on the court filing.
Cooper, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building and ordered it removed.
Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on its board, has said the building is in dangerous condition that will require it to be “ripped down.” The board voted to close the center after Cooper blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.
On Sept. 16, Floca ordered a temporary closure of the center’s main building. A day later, Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building.
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