Trump again rebukes Jeanine Pirro over reflecting pool ‘vandalism’ case

President attacks ‘terrible mistake’ of US attorney, who said in court filing damage stemmed from botched renovation

Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of Jeanine Pirro after the US attorney for the District of Columbia publicly challenged his claims that vandals had damaged the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.

“She said there was no vandalism. There was tremendous vandalism,” Trump told NBC News on Thursday. “So, she made a terrible mistake. I don’t understand why she did such a stupid thing.”

On Friday, Pirro – a former Fox News host and longtime Trump ally who he handpicked to serve as the top prosecutor for the nation’s capital – moved to dismiss vandalism charges against a former Olympian and three others in connection with incidents at the reflecting pool.

In a 20-page court filing, Pirro’s office wrote that the damage to the concrete-bottomed tourist attraction was the result of a “botched” renovation – “not vandalism”.

Asked on Thursday whether he would consider replacing Pirro, Trump told NBC: “I think she made a terrible decision. That doesn’t mean change.”

The comments came after a reportedly heated Oval Office meeting on Monday with Trump, Pirro, and interior secretary Doug Burgum. According to the New York Times, Pirro accused Burgum of misleading the president about the rushed renovation by a vendor awarded a no-bid contract from the interior department.

Later that evening, Trump told reporters he had not “made a determination” yet as to whether Pirro would be ousted.

The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Earlier this week, Trump accused Pirro of having “folded like an umbrella” after the justice department dismissed the case against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist who faced a felony property destruction charge that carried a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $1,000 fine for the act of having touched a chunk of the pool’s newly peeled coating. Hearn, 67, pleaded not guilty.

In a statement after the charges were dropped, Hearn’s lawyers said the case should never have been brought, and argued that its dismissal “does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong”.

“The administration owes Mr Hearn an apology,” they said.

Hearn is one of seven people who was charged in connection with what Trump claimed were attempts to vandalize the $15m renovation of the reflecting pool that has been plagued by problems the justice department said was “the result of flawed installation by the contractor”.

“Frankly, I think she choked,” Trump said from the Oval Office on Monday.

An attorney for Hearn has since said that “ all options are on table ” for legal action. Those include “civil suits, bar referrals for the prosecutors involved, request for sanctions, and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and expenses,” Hearn’s attorney Steven Levin said on Tuesday.