(AFP) – President Donald Trump’s extraordinary campaign to blame an apparently botched renovation of Washington’s Reflecting Pool on vandals took another twist Saturday when he attacked his hand-picked prosecutor for dropping charges against an ex-Olympian arrested in the controversy.
Trump lashed out at federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro — a former Fox News host who has been a longtime supporter of the Republican president — after she sought to dismiss the charges, acknowledging in court documents that poor installation, not vandalism, apparently wrecked the multimillion dollar renovation on the National Mall.
“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 his Truth Social platform.
“To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM.” Trump then appeared to tacitly acknowledge what had long been suspected by politicians and the press: that a botched and hurried process had led a new “American Flag blue” sealant to both peel from the pool’s bottom and promote rapid algae growth.
“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” Trump said. He also shared security camera footage he claimed showed vandalism. In the video individuals are seen from afar putting their hands into the water while workers undertook cleaning work, but it did not clearly show people damaging the pool or depositing anything into it.
Trump is spending the weekend at his New Jersey golf club outside New York City. The attack on his long-time ally came amid other posts of a war plane, gold-plated statues and what appeared to be a campaign poster of himself running for a third term, which would be illegal under the US Constitution.
Trump had made the renovation a national drama by repeatedly discussing plans and providing regular updates of the expedited work ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations earlier this summer. When the pool liner began peeling off and algae grew quickly despite the application of chemicals, Trump blamed vandalism for the damage while providing no meaningful evidence.
Former Olympian David Hearn, 67, was arrested and charged with felony vandalism, which could have seen him jailed for a decade. He pleaded not guilty. On Friday, Pirro filed documents seeking dismissal of the case, saying new revelations “undermine the evidentiary basis for the indictment.”
She said new documents indicate that damage to the landmark was “the result of flawed installation by the contractor… and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration.” A Trump cabinet member, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, repeated the president’s talking points Saturday.
“The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool,” Burgum posted on X. “We won’t back down to deranged people who want to destroy, deface, or degrade our monuments.”
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