President Donald Trump criticized U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Saturday after her office moved to dismiss charges against a former Olympic canoeist accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
“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?” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It was a pure case of VANDALISM.”
“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” he added.
Trump later pointed to surveillance footage that he said showed the pool’s lining being deliberately damaged.
“Look for yourselves at the VANDALISM that took place at The Reflecting Pool. The material is being cut with a knife or a box cutter, for all to see!”
Pirro’s office announced Friday that prosecutors had received new information undermining “the evidentiary basis for the indictment” against David “Davey” Hearn.
Hearn was indicted July 2 on allegations that he was “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool with both hands on June 19. The incident occurred shortly after the completion of renovations ordered by Trump.
Hearn pleaded not guilty and maintained that he did not damage the pool.
“The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there,” he said.
Prosecutors said documents provided by the Interior Department after the indictment indicated that the damage “was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings.”
The Justice Department said it “first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism” after reviewing the additional materials. Prosecutors said they would not have sought the indictment had the documents been available earlier.
The Reflecting Pool attracted attention in June after green algae covered portions of the water and pieces of blue sealant began peeling from the bottom and floating to the surface. Trump had directed a renovation costing more than $14 million that included coating the pool in “American flag blue.”
Pirro’s office said it was also dismissing at least one of three other misdemeanor cases connected to the alleged damage.
