President Donald Trump criticized U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Monday following her decision to drop criminal charges against David Hearn, a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Speaking from the Oval Office, the president stated he was disappointed in Pirro and suggested she "choked" because of pressure from the presiding judge. CNN reported that the president is now considering whether to remove Pirro from her position as the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C.
The case began after renovations to the landmark were completed last month, which included the installation of a new blue liner. Pirro’s office originally charged Hearn with one felony count of destruction of property, alleging on July 2 that he had "forcefully and violently" pulled the pool's lining in a deliberate act of destruction. Hearn pleaded not guilty to the charge earlier this month.
The prosecution moved to dismiss the charges on Friday after a federal agent determined the damage was not caused by vandalism. A court filing from Pirro’s office stated that the Department of Interior provided "less than fulsome information" at the start of the investigation. The filing clarified that the blue sealant began peeling "almost immediately" after the work was finished because of a "botched installation" by the contractor rather than criminal activity.
The scale of the incident involves the cost of federal renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, though the specific dollar amount of the "botched installation" was not reported. For the public and visitors to Washington, D.C., the situation highlights issues with the maintenance of high-profile national monuments. A person visiting the site would notice the peeling blue liner of the pool, which the court filings say began to fail shortly after last month's renovations were completed. The shift from a criminal prosecution to a contractor dispute means that any financial recovery for the damage will likely move from the criminal justice system to civil or administrative proceedings against the private firm responsible for the work.
The knock-on effects include a public disagreement between the executive branch and the Department of Justice regarding the handling of federal prosecutions. The president’s comments set a precedent of public criticism for a U.S. Attorney who dismissed a case based on a lack of evidence produced by the administration's own agencies. What happens next depends on the president’s decision regarding Pirro’s employment. While Trump declined to answer specific questions about her future on Monday, the dismissal of the charges on Friday effectively ends the criminal case against Hearn, shifting the focus to how the administration will address the faulty contractor work at the Reflecting Pool.