Records and claimed presidential contact
Attorneys representing Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper on Sunday to order the Trump administration to turn over records that they say document the scope of Republican President Donald Trump’s influence over the center’s management. The request covers documents, emails and text messages the administration withheld after claiming they contain privileged presidential communications. Beatty is challenging Trump’s plan to close the performing arts center for renovations.
Filing and privilege claim
The filing argues that the withheld communications directly affect issues before the court and that the administration’s privilege claim cannot stand. “These communications directly bear on the issues before the Court, and the claim of privilege cannot stand,” Beatty’s lawyers wrote. The lawyers also said: “Without access to these materials, (Beatty) will lack a complete picture of Defendants’ actions.” Beatty’s lawyers suspect the administration is engaging in impermissible “gamesmanship.”
Document inventory
The list of withheld documents includes 19 text messages between Kennedy Center executive director and CEO Matt Floca and Trump executive assistant Natalie Harp concerning Kennedy Center-related matters. Floca and Harp exchanged 11 of those messages on Sept. 15, when the center’s board voted for a third time to close the facility, Beatty’s lawyers said.
The list also includes approximately 180 center-related texts between Floca and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Beatty’s lawyers said Lutnick was acting as Trump’s “go-between.”
Beatty’s lawyers said the records list suggests Trump has been in “near-constant contact” with the center’s management, either directly or through intermediaries.
Procedural status
Cooper did not immediately rule on the request to compel disclosure. The White House also did not immediately comment on the court filing.
The request remains pending before Cooper. Plaintiffs’ lawyers say the records are necessary to assess the defendants’ actions at issue in the case, while the administration has withheld them under its privilege claims.
Institutional role and closure background
Cooper, whom Democratic President Barack Obama nominated to the bench, ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building and ordered it removed. Trump was named the center’s chairman the previous year by loyalists on its board.
Trump has said the building is in dangerous condition and 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.