AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has closed a federal civil rights investigation into a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state’s largest mosques near Dallas without filing any charges or lawsuits.
The Justice Department had opened the investigation after U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called for it, arguing that the development could discriminate against Christian and Jews.
The developers of the proposed EPIC City community tied to the East Plano Islamic Center, have complained they are being bullied by multiple federal and state investigations because they are Muslim.
A June 13 Justice Department letter to Community Capital Partners, the group developing the project, noted the department is closing the investigation.
“CCP has affirmed that all will be welcome in any future development,” the letter said. The group wrote that they plan to revise and develop marketing materials to reinforce that message.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment further. The letter was first reported Wednesday by the Dallas Morning News.
Community Capital Partners had said the development would adhere to the Fair Housing Act and any other state and federal guidelines, and that the community would be open to members of all religions.
The federal investigation had escalated pressure on the proposed EPIC City, which has faced steady criticism and multiple investigations. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP state officials have claimed the group is trying to create a community that excludes non-Muslims and would impose Islamic law on residents.
The developers have said they are not seeking to impose religion on anyone, and that the community would follow state and federal law.
Among its chief critics has been the state’s hard-right Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging Cornyn for his Senate seat in 2026.
Dan Cogdell, an attorney for EPIC City who defended Paxton in his 2023 impeachment trial when he was acquitted by the state Senate, noted how quickly federal officials had wrapped up their probe.
None of the investigations would be happening if the community was planned around a Christian church or Jewish temple, Cogdell said.
“The false accusations that have been swirling around the development were based solely on misinformation, lies and false rumors,” Cogdell said. “Frankly, the politicians that have repeated them without ever bothering to look at any fact should be embarrassed.”
The state investigations include whether the development is violating financial and fair housing laws and whether funeral practices at the mosque were done legally. The status of those investigations remained unclear Wednesday. Cogdell said the developers will cooperate with anyone who asks.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has criticized the federal and state probes as bullying the Muslim community and a violation of constitutionally protected religious expression.
“We welcome the dropping of this investigation and hope the DOJ’s actions send a clear message to the governor and other officials in Texas that they should similarly drop their Islamophobic witch hunt targeting Muslims in that state,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
Plans for the mixed-used development include more than 1,000 homes and apartments, a faith-based school for kindergarten through 12th grade, a community college, assisted living for older residents and athletics fields.
The project may take years to finish. The developers have said they will not even start the initial permitting process for several more months.
EPIC City would be near the community of Josephine, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Dallas.
FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium before a press conference with Attorney General Pam Bondi, May 6, 2025, at the Justice Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.
The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.
The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”
Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”
Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”
The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.
Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.
Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.
The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.
“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”
For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.
And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”
Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.
In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.
At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.
The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”
Barrow reported from Atlanta.
People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
