Washington: President Donald Trump doubled down on his claim that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was damaged by vandals – even after his government admitted that it’s not true – as he accused his hand-picked prosecutor of “choking” in court.
Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed US attorney for Washington, filed a motion late last week to dismiss vandalism charges against former Olympian David Hearn, who was wrongly accused of damaging the monument.
The document admitted material peeling off the pool floor following the renovation was the result of “flawed installation by the contractor”, amid “the rush to complete the project” ahead of July 4 celebrations.
It also explicitly stated the damage was not caused by vandalism as claimed by Trump and alleged by the US government.
That concession uprooted a narrative promulgated by Trump for nearly two months; that the pool had been damaged by left-wing radicals, rather than shoddy workmanship by a private contractor connected to the president.
On Monday (Washington time), Trump said he was “really disappointed” with Pirro, and that she “folded like an umbrella” under pressure from the judge.
“Jeanine Pirro made a mistake. It was vandalism,” he said. “The judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine. And frankly I think she choked.”
A reporter from left-leaning cable channel MS-NOW, Jake Traylor, asked Trump whether he was reconsidering Pirro’s position. The president snapped at him: “You’re fake news. Don’t ever talk again … Fortunately, nobody watches you.”
Pirro – a former Fox News host who was hired by Trump to crack down on crime in the US capital – was seen entering the White House on Monday evening, as was Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who oversees the National Parks Service. CNN reported Trump was considering firing Pirro.
The White House was contacted for comment.
In a nearly 10-minute answer to a question about the pool, Trump acknowledged problems with the work performed by Atlantic Industrial Coatings. That company was awarded a no-bid government contract to recondition the pool and turn the water “American flag blue”.
“I’m not saying I was 100 per cent thrilled with the contractor. But the contractor was rushing,” Trump said on Monday. “We wanted to get it open for July 4th. And we got it done.”
Trump claimed not to know the contractor, even though he previously boasted about getting them to do the job for a low price, as they had worked on one of his golf club pools.
The Reflecting Pool project is one of several refurbishments around Washington that have become a core part of what the president sees as his legacy. Others include the White House ballroom and “Triumphal Arch” near Arlington Cemetery.
Until now, the administration had been united behind Trump’s assertion of vandalism. Pirro herself claimed there was “tremendous evidence” against Hearn at a news conference in early July.
“There was a violent effort to rip up the sealant from the bottom of the pool,” she told reporters at the time. “We can state and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he caused damage … He damaged this pool.”
But in her 20-page motion – filed on Friday afternoon just before the August summer break – Pirro asserted the Interior Department had withheld key documents from her office revealing the contractor’s botched installation.
It was only after Hearn was indicted that her office sought and received all the files, Pirro claimed.
Burgum, the interior secretary, has backed Trump’s position. “The evidence is clear; vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool,” he asserted on Saturday, after Pirro’s filing.
“We also provided the US Attorney’s office expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals and provided every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested timeline detailing each area of damage at the pool.”
Hearn’s lawyers have said the charges should never have been brought and demanded an apology from the Trump administration for their client.
Pirro has long been a close ally of the president, using her former Fox News platform to defend him against several legal charges.
Just before leaving office in 2021, Trump pardoned her ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who served 11 months in jail in 2001 for tax evasion.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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