A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to preserve records related to President Donald Trump's construction projects after whistleblowers reported that documents were being destroyed.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued the order on Tuesday after a whistleblower reported that the administration was destroying documents involving all of Trump's construction projects. Multiple whistleblowers indicated the destruction was already underway, CNN reported. Preservation orders are a standard judicial tool, meant to keep records intact when they could be needed in legal proceedings.

The ruling comes ahead of a political shift: the Democratic Congress will be sworn in on Jan. 3, and forthcoming committee chairs are already sending letters instructing the administration not to destroy documents. Such letters put agencies on formal notice and can serve as groundwork for subpoenas or court enforcement later.

In a court order, Reyes made clear that all documents must be preserved. She also directed that no major work be carried out on the Potomac East Golf Course without informing her. The day after the administration "informed" Reyes — with a filing submitted at 4:55 p.m. on a Friday ahead of a federal holiday weekend — more than 400 trees were chopped down.

Her Tuesday order demanded that the National Park Service, the Justice Department and the Department of the Interior, along with any of their components or offices, retain all documents. She ultimately banned any work on the golf course for a few weeks.

The projects fall under the purview of the House Natural Resources Committee, which Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) is set to lead in the 120th Congress. The panel oversees Trump's construction projects, including a grand arch and the golf course project, both of which are facing litigation.

Huffman said he intends to send letters to the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management to "preserve all records and data responsive to oversight" by the congressional panel.

The Interior Department disputed the accounts, claiming the whistleblowers are "100 percent false." "The Department follows all federal records management obligations as directed by the Department's ethics officials," a spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

Other preservation letters are being sent to the Department of Agriculture and to companies such as Lockheed Martin and John Deere, which have donated corporate cash to Trump's various projects.

Huffman suggested that "winter is coming" for the Trump administration. "Everything is coming; it's all coming," he told CNN in an interview, adding, "It's just going to be an entirely new day." He signaled that his new committee — one of the quieter, unassuming parts of the House — is ready to use its power. CNN also reported that "in anticipation of possible obstruction from the administration, the committee is prepared to issue subpoenas."

Huffman said his committee has "standing" to take the administration to court over the projects. "We'll have tools to be able to stop a lot of it," he promised. How the administration responds to the preservation order — with the golf course work ban running only a few weeks and the new Congress seated Jan. 3 — is the immediate thread to follow, along with whether the committee follows through on its subpoena preparations.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee has also sent document preservation letters to the Department of Homeland Security, while Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is likely to take over the House Judiciary Committee, issued a document-preservation demand to the White House before the election.

Original reporting via Alternet.