Recently, U.S. Federal Prosecutor Janina Piro admitted that the damage to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial was due to construction issues, not intentional destruction. She also requested that the case involving former U.S. Olympic athlete David Hurn be dismissed. In July, Hurn was sued by the federal government for allegedly “damaging the reflecting pool.”
According to reports by the American Consumer News & Business News (CNBC), CNN, and The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction on August 3rd local time, stating that Piro had made a mistake. However, when asked if he was considering removing Piro from his position, Trump did not provide a direct answer.
CNBC noted that Trump's dissatisfaction with Barr raised a question about whether the president has the ability or under what circumstances he could remove an appointed U.S. attorney, according to law.
Piero and Trump – Associated Press
On July 2, Hurn was formally charged in the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C., for allegedly damaging the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The indictment alleges that the 67-year-old Hurn “maliciously” damaged or destroyed the sealing coating at the bottom of the reflecting pool on June 19, causing a loss of over $1,000. He is accused of committing the felony crime of damaging property.
At that time, Piro stated that Hearn “forcefully and violently” pulled on the coating on June 19th, calling it “intentional damage to the reflection pool.”
But on July 31, Piro asked the judge to dismiss the case involving Hurn. The documents submitted to the court by Piro’s office indicated that the documents from the Interior Ministry “substantially weakened” the evidence upon which charges against Hurn were based. “The reflection pool was found to be damaged in various areas, even in the middle of the pool. It is unlikely that the vandals stripped away the sealing coating there. Given these latest findings, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the reflection pool to intentional destruction.”
Piero accused the Interior Ministry of providing insufficient information at the beginning. She stated that if the government had been aware of these situations earlier, it would never have filed a lawsuit against Hearn.
In addition, the documents submitted to the court acknowledge that the renovation work of the reflection pool was 'hasty and poor'. Additional information received by her office indicates that the damage was caused by the contractor's 'defective installation'.
It is reported that the renovation of the reflecting pool cost $14.8 million, but problems such as a large growth of algae and peeling of the coating occurred. Trump and members of his government have repeatedly blamed vandals for the problems arising from the renovation of the reflecting pool.
On August 3rd, local time, Trump expressed his dissatisfaction and disappointment with Piro. He said that Piro “fell like an umbrella, and people escaped punishment—this is a shame.”
Trump said, “Frankly, I think she was intimidated because the judge was very vicious. The judge did not hold the perpetrator accountable, but instead held her and her department responsible.”
When asked whether he was reconsidering Pryor's position, Trump did not give a direct answer, saying “I don’t know anything,” and then criticized the journalist who asked the question.
Later that day, a source told CNN that Trump met with Piro and Interior Secretary Sebel in the White House. Other people were also present during the meeting. Several sources said that Trump did not fire Piro during the meeting, and Piro did not submit his resignation.
Previously, two sources said that after the judiciary concluded that the mirror pool issue was caused by defective renovations rather than deliberate vandalism, Trump considered removing Piro from his position. Another source said that Trump was “very angry” with Piro, and remained furious throughout the weekend.
A senior government official said that Trump was angry about the document in question and cited his "in the dark" stance as a key reason. "The president had no prior knowledge of her doing so."
Reports indicate that on August 1st, Trump also spoke with Piro about the documents submitted to the court. A source said the conversation was “not pleasant.” Another source stated that Piro told Trump that it was a professional officer from her office who submitted those documents.
Besides this call, Pirou also had multiple conversations with Trump regarding this situation.
On that day, Trump posted on social media, expressing absolute disagreement with Piro’s views. “I have no idea what she is thinking. In my opinion, this is purely an act of deliberate destruction.”
On the same day, Bergum also posted a statement denying Piro's claims, stating, "The evidence is clear: the vandals caused damage to the reflecting pool multiple times."
As of the afternoon of the 3rd, the judge has not officially overturned the case involving Hearn.
CNBC noted that Trump had previously dismissed other U.S. prosecutors. For example, in mid-July, Roger Rogoff was appointed U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington just hours before being fired by Trump. Acting Attorney General Todd Brannigan wrote on social media: "Judges of district courts can appoint temporary U.S. attorneys, and the president can dismiss them."
It is reported that Rogov has filed a lawsuit claiming that the dismissal of him is unconstitutional.
