'How many times do I have to say no': Jeanine Pirro shuts reporter over Trump's pool case

WASHINGTON, DC: US Attorney Jeanine Pirro repeatedly rejected a reporter's questions about President Donald Trump's call to revisit the dropped Reflecting Pool case.

Trump has said Pirro should revisit the case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, which prosecutors dropped after citing flawed contractor installation.

Pirro's clash with the reporter came on Wednesday, September 9, during a Washington news conference where she announced a guilty plea in a $245 million cryptocurrency racketeering case.

Jeanine Pirro refuses to revisit the Reflecting Pool case

Pirro made it clear that she did not want the Reflecting Pool case discussed as the reporter returned to it during the question-and-answer session.

"Not you," Pirro said when she opened the floor to questions, before the reporter raised Trump's interest in the case.

Asked whether she would revisit it and, if not, why, Pirro replied, "I'm not gonna talk about any other issue. I know you'd love to, but I'm not going there."

"What?" the reporter asked.

"I said no! And no! Who wants to know about this? How many times do I have to say no?" Pirro said.

The reporter then invoked Trump's position, saying the president had made clear that the matter was "very important to him."

"And, you know, the president has the right to decide what he wants to do and what is important," Pirro said. 

She pointed instead to Trump's executive order and the cryptocurrency fraud case as a priority.

Pirro's office had charged Hearn, 67, with felony destruction of property on July 2, accusing him of tearing up about 2 square feet of new sealant on the pool's bottom.

Hearn pleaded not guilty on July 9 and denied damaging anything. 

He said the pool was in the same condition when he stepped away from the water as when he arrived.

Trump criticized Jeanine Pirro after prosecutors dropped it

Prosecutors moved to drop the case on July 31 after the Interior Department turned over records showing the damage resulted from "flawed installation" by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings, NBC News reported.

Trump criticized the decision, saying he was "very disappointed" and that Pirro "folded like an umbrella." 

The next day, when asked whether Pirro would keep her job, Trump said, "I haven't made a determination."

Trump later summoned Pirro to the White House on August 3 after considering removing her, but he did not fire her, and Pirro did not offer to resign, CNN reported.

On August 7, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "US Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision" and posted images he said showed knife cuts at the pool.

The case remains subject to a court dispute

Judge Todd Edelman formally dismissed the charge on August 6 but has not decided whether prosecutors may ever bring it again. 

He heard arguments on that question September 4, according to ABC News.

The Reflecting Pool issue resurfaced during the news conference after Pirro had answered questions about the cryptocurrency case.

"I am not talking about that!" Pirro added, cutting off the reporter's next question before redirecting the room: "Anyone wanna talk about this case?"

At the September 4 hearing, Michael Spence, a lawyer from Pirro's office, told Edelman the US Attorney's Office was not still investigating Hearn when the judge asked about the matter.

"The US Attorney's Office is not, no," Spence said.