Top Kennedy Center official urged closure due to financial problems, not poor conditions, lawyers argue

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Eighteen months after President Donald Trump stepped in to remake the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in his image, a top official worried about the Washington institution’s hemorrhaging finances urged for it to be shut down, according to court documents filed on behalf of the Ohio congresswoman seeking to stop the center from being shuttered.

“She told him we need to get shut and need a unanimous vote,” reads a series of September text messages describing a conversation between the board of trustees Vice Chair Jennifer Fischer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has been a driving force in the Trump administration’s efforts to renovate the Kennedy Center by, among other things, placing the president’s name on the building. “She said we are broke and borrowed money to pay the bills.”

The tranche of documents filed Friday night on behalf of Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio board member, seek to undermine the Trump administration’s contention that the $200 million renovation it is pursuing is due to “dangerously dilapidated and decrepit” conditions that require it to be shuttered for two years.

The Kennedy Center referred CNN to the Department of Justice for questions about the filing. CNN has reached out to the DOJ.

A judge in the case has issued a temporary restraining order compelling the center to remain operating while the lawsuit continues, which Kennedy Center officials have done by continuing programming inside a portion of the campus known as the REACH. The Trump administration is seeking to have the judge’s order lifted.

Lawyers for Beatty argued in the Friday filing that she and other trustees never saw an analysis by a contractor that contradicts the case for closing the center for two years over pursuing the renovations in phases. Instead, the lawyers say in a news release accompanying the filing, Trump and his managers appeared to have hidden that information from the board.

According to Beatty’s attorneys, Kennedy Center Director Matt Floca insisted to the venue’s trustees that construction costs would double if the center took a phased approach. He based that assessment on a contractor’s report that used a preliminary estimate of the cost difference. But a revised estimate that was never seen by the board before it approved the building’s closure put that extra cost closer to $41 million, according to the filing.

“The record now confirms that they knew that estimate was wrong,” the attorneys said in the filing about Kennedy Center officials.

Center officials also contended that $257 million appropriated by Congress for the center’s renovations has to be spent by the end of the 2029 fiscal year, when in reality they have until the 2034 fiscal year to spend the money, Beatty’s attorneys argued.

“The court told this Board to do its job. As a trustee, I have a duty to be accountable. Yet Trump and his handpicked management failed to follow the law, hid facts that didn’t fit their narrative, and rubberstamped Trump’s wishes,” Beatty said in the news release. “I have a duty to protect this living memorial to President Kennedy on behalf of the American people. I will keep fighting to do my job, make sure the law is followed, and ensure that Trump cannot tear down the Kennedy Center to satisfy his ego.”

CNN previously reported that the legal saga and wave of cancellations from performers that ensued since Trump became board chairman presented financial challenges for the institution. With the center’s future in limbo, the cultural institution moved the annual Kennedy Center Honors to the Capitol One Arena in downtown DC.

格雷姆·斯隆/盖蒂图片社

据代表俄亥俄州女议员提交的法庭文件显示，在唐纳德·特朗普总统介入并按照自己的意愿改造约翰·F·肯尼迪表演艺术中心18个月后，一位担心该华盛顿机构财政状况急剧恶化的高级官员敦促将其关闭。这位女议员正在寻求阻止该中心关闭。

“她告诉他，我们需要关闭，而且需要全票通过，”一系列九月份的短信记录了董事会副主席詹妮弗·费舍尔和商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克之间的对话。卢特尼克一直是特朗普政府翻新肯尼迪中心的主要推动者，他推动的举措之一是将总统的名字印在建筑上。“她说我们破产了，为了支付账单，我们借了钱。”

周五晚间，众议员乔伊斯·比蒂（Joyce Beatty，当然董事会成员）提交的一批文件试图削弱特朗普政府的说法，即其正在推进的 2 亿美元翻新工程是由于“危险的破旧和衰败”状况，需要关闭两年。

肯尼迪中心建议CNN向司法部咨询有关该申请的问题。CNN已与司法部取得联系。

此案法官已发布临时限制令，强制肯尼迪中心在诉讼期间继续运营。肯尼迪中心官员已采取措施，继续在名为“REACH”的园区内开展活动。特朗普政府正寻求撤销该限制令。

贝蒂的律师在周五提交的文件中辩称，她和其他受托人从未见过承包商出具的分析报告，该报告与关闭中心两年、分阶段进行翻修的理由相矛盾。律师在随附的新闻稿中表示，特朗普及其幕僚似乎向董事会隐瞒了这一信息。

据比蒂的律师称，肯尼迪中心主任马特·弗洛卡曾向该中心的理事会坚称，如果中心采取分阶段施工的方式，建设成本将翻倍。他的这一评估依据是承包商的一份报告，该报告使用了成本差异的初步估算。但根据提交的文件，一份在理事会批准关闭该建筑之前从未被其审阅过的修订估算，将额外成本提高到了接近4100万美元。

“记录现在证实，他们知道这个估计是错误的，”律师们在针对肯尼迪中心官员的文件中说道。

中心官员还辩称，国会拨款 2.57 亿美元用于中心的翻新工程必须在 2029 财年结束前花完，但实际上他们有时间到 2034 财年再花这笔钱，比蒂的律师辩称。

“法院要求董事会履行职责。作为一名受托人，我有责任承担责任。然而，特朗普及其钦点的管理层未能遵守法律，隐瞒了与他们的说法不符的事实，并对特朗普的意愿照单全收，”比蒂在新闻稿中说道。“我有责任代表美国人民保护这座纪念肯尼迪总统的活生生的纪念碑。我将继续努力履行我的职责，确保法律得到遵守，并确保特朗普无法为了满足其虚荣心而拆毁肯尼迪中心。”

CNN此前报道称，自特朗普担任董事会主席以来，随之而来的法律纠纷和众多表演者取消演出的浪潮给肯尼迪中心带来了财务挑战。由于中心的未来悬而未决，这家文化机构已将一年一度的肯尼迪中心荣誉奖颁奖典礼移至位于华盛顿特区市中心的Capital One Arena举行。