Key takeaways:
- The Justice Department moved Friday to dismiss vandalism charges against 67-year-old former Olympian David Hearn in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool case.
- Prosecutors said the Interior Department incorrectly blamed vandalism and that evidence pointed to contractor error and a botched installation.
- Trump said Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella,” while CNN reported he is considering removing her from the U.S. attorney post.
President Trump publicly criticized Jeanine Pirro, his handpicked U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, after the Justice Department moved to dismiss a vandalism case involving the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and said the damage was caused by construction problems rather than a former Olympian.
“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro,” Trump told reporters Monday in the Oval Office. “Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.”
“Frankly, I think she choked,” he said. “I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened.”
The Justice Department filed a motion Friday to dismiss charges against David Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympian from Bethesda, Maryland. Prosecutors said the Interior Department had incorrectly attributed damage in the pool’s lining to vandalism and that the evidence instead pointed to “contractor error” and a “botched installation.” Talking Points Memo reported that the filing described the $14 million Reflecting Pool renovation as “hasty and botched.”
Hearn had been accused of ripping a piece of sealant from the pool after stopping there June 19 during a 64-mile bike ride. He said authorities arrested him after he reached down to the water, and he denied wrongdoing. Talking Points Memo reported that Hearn had pleaded not guilty to felony vandalism charges in D.C. Superior Court before the case was dismissed.
His attorneys said Friday that the case “should never have been brought” and that the government “owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”
Pirro’s move to drop the charges marked a reversal from her earlier posture. When the case was first announced, she held a news conference and said, “One of the most offensive images that I hold in my mind are the images of national monuments that are being debased, roped, torn down, graffitied, and damaged by individuals. This unchecked vandalism and civil disorder turns into criminal behavior, and that’s why we are here today.”
Trump had already criticized the decision on Truth Social over the weekend. “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM,” he wrote, according to Talking Points Memo.
On Monday, Trump said the judge in the case was “really vicious” and suggested Pirro failed to pursue the case properly. “Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department,” he said.
Trump snapped at one reporter who asked whether he was reconsidering Pirro’s position and ignored another question about whether he would fire her. Asked if Trump is considering removing Pirro, the White House referred CBS News to the president’s Oval Office remarks.
CNN reported Monday, citing two people familiar with Trump’s thinking, that the president is considering removing Pirro over the filing. One source told CNN that Trump was “furious” and had complained about her all weekend, while a senior administration official said Trump was “blindsided” by the court filing and “did not know beforehand that she was going to do that.”
Talking Points Memo reported that Trump spoke with Pirro on Saturday and that she blamed career officials in her office for the filing, though her name appeared on it.
Be First to Comment