Trump reopens Reflecting Pool pandora's box, but this time asks DOJ to revisit case

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is in no mood to let the Reflecting Pool vandalism case go, as the Department of Justice threw in the towel in its attempt to prosecute David Hearn for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.

A week ago, President Trump publicly accused Jeanine Pirro of "folding like an umbrella" over the collapsed pool after she argued that damage was caused by poor construction and management, not that someone desperately tried to damage the historic site.

White House pushes DOJ to reprosecute David Hearn

White House officials are now asking the DOJ to "consider a new prosecution" of Hearn, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday, August 11, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

Any attempt to bring new charges would be “highly unusual,” given that the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, led by Jeanine Pirro, previously acknowledged it relied on claims from the Department of the Interior (DOI) that the damage was caused by vandals, including Hearn.

Later, DOI “provided additional documents” that revealed “the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI,” Pirro's office said.

Sources also told the WSJ that DOJ officials were actually “exploring whether another type of case—likely based on misdemeanor allegations—is even possible,” and conducting “informal and preliminary” discussions internally.

Jeanine Pirro drops case against former Olympian David Hearn

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro dropped the criminal case against former Olympian David (Davey) Hearn after internal government documents showed that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was caused by a rushed, flawed contractor installation rather than vandalism.

President Trump on Friday, August 7, blasted Jeanine Pirro for dropping the Reflecting Pool vandalism charge against former Olympian David Hearn and urged Pirro to revisit her decision.

"Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday, sharing photos from a freelance photographer that allegedly showed vandalism.

The president claimed that "People were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the ‘slashes’. Additionally, there were witnesses to the vandalism, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife."

Facing criticism from Trump over her office's decision to dismiss felony charges against former Olympian David Hearn, Pirro reportedly arrived at the White House with a large white box filled with evidence collected during the investigation.