President Trump turned up his rhetoric Monday against Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and a longtime ally, after she dropped the case against a former Olympian who was accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
“The judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine and, frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department. I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella, and people got away with things. It’s a disgrace,” he said.
Ms. Pirro dropped the case against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist, saying her office had obtained information that undermined the “evidentiary basis for the indictment.” It said that evidence revealed that damage to the Reflecting Pool was “the result of a botched installation and not vandalism” after reviewing more documents.
Mr. Trump made it clear he did not agree with that decision.
“Jeanine Pirro made a mistake. There was vandalism,” he said.
Mr. Hearn was indicted last month over claims that he was “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool with both hands on June 19, just after the pool had undergone extensive renovations at Mr. Trump’s direction.
He pleaded not guilty and said that “the condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.”
Mr. Trump last week expressed disagreement with Ms. Pirro’s decision to drop the case, but Monday’s remarks show that he’s turned up the heat on one of his most outspoken supporters with a barrage of personal attacks.
In a Truth Social post last week, Mr. Trump wrote “I disagree 100%” with Ms. Pirro and said he “didn’t know what she was thinking,” calling it “a pure case of vandalism.”
The president earlier this year ordered a $14 million renovation of the pool, which included coating the pool’s bottom in the color of “American flag blue.” It has since been beset by problems, including clumps of algae forming and cracks, holes and peeling caulk in parts of the pool.
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