Trump’s justice department admits that the reason that the Lincoln pool paint was peeling was because it was a botched rushed job and they have dropped the charges against David Hearn, the person they accused of vandalizing it. They released this news late Friday night, since that is when they think no one is paying attention and thus the time to release embarrassing information.
The Justice Department admitted Friday that President Donald Trump’s $14 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was “hasty and botched,” and it is dropping the criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn that accused him of vandalizing the pool, according to a new court filing from DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
The admissions are an embarrassing reversal for Pirro — and for Trump, who has insisted publicly for weeks that vandals were solely responsible for the severely damaged pool lining, chronic algae blooms and green-hued water at the iconic landmark.
Three other people have been swept up in the administration’s push to blame the pool’s problems on alleged vandals — each pleading not guilty to lesser, misdemeanor charges. Federal prosecutors dropped the charges against at least one of those people as well Friday, according to DC court records.
Of course, now everyone is blaming others for the fiasco.
In an unusually descriptive filing about shoddy work on the Reflecting Pool this summer, Pirro’s office pointed fingers directly at other federal agencies, including the Interior Department, for the bungled renovation and Hearn’s vandalism case.
“The damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI. Indeed, USAO-DC could only rely on the information provided by DOI that the damage was entirely caused by vandals,” Pirro’s office wrote in Hearn’s case Friday.
“A recent visual inspection showed damage throughout the Reflecting Pool, even in the middle of the pool, where a vandal would not likely attempt to peel the lining,” prosecutors added. “Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.”
That it was not due to vandalism was obvious to anyone who gave it even a moment’s thought.
When the charges were first filed, the police officers descriptions of the alleged vandalism by three others were very detailed and explicit, making it look like a slam-dunk case.
Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.
One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.
The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.
All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.
Trump, Pirro, and everyone around them are such liars. They are willing to sacrifice the freedom and money of ordinary people and put them through the tortuous justice system just to support Trump’s lies.
Here is a clip showing how Trump and Pirro brazenly lied.
This clip shows why the charge should never have been brought, because the fact that the pool job was botched was obvious long before. Watch Pirro beginning at the 8:00 mark and the legal analyst afterwards..
This should be deeply embarrassing for Pirro, Trump, and all the others except that they have no sense of shame. These are truly despicable people.
I’m shocked, shocked I say! Who could have seen that coming? Trump should sue someone; too many mistakes like this could even dent his reputation for truthfulness, honesty, integrity and accuracy.
And now Trump is blasting Pirro, because of course he is:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-blasts-pirro-after-she-refutes-his-claim-that-reflecting-pool-was-damaged-by-vandals
BTW isn’t Trump the guy who posted a promise that each household would get a check of “at least $ 2000” as share of the tariff profits?
And didn’t he recently flat out deny that he had made such a promise?
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I am beginning to think he is not very reliable. I will give his crypto coin a pass, despite the promises of huge profits.
@birgerjohannson #3:
Oh, but Trump has indeed made a huge profit from it. $600 million so far. Surely you wouldn’t begrudge him that?
Back to the subject:
I just highlight this to emphasise how Trump mendaciously uses the term 100%. Major by definition means less than 100%, otherwise he would say “the entire damage”. And yet he “disagrees 100%” even after he’s hedged his words to stop short of complete disagreement. He’s such a stupid lying fuckhead.
^ ^ ^
“He’s such a stupid lying fuckhead.”
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This is why internet is full of speculation about the psychological mechanisms that make MAGA voters stay loyal.
Up until the Trump presidency I had the belief that successful crooks needed to be shrewd and cunning to rise to the top. Obviously it is an advantage to inherit a fortune but surely a villain need to be slightly more than mediocre to float to the top along with the other scum?
Nope. You can be as dumb as those inbred royals of the 17th century and get to rule the world. All it takes is a corrupt legacy system no one bothers to reform.
None of these reports mention the fact that the preznut’s motorcade drove over the coating in SUVs before it could possibly have set, even if it were installed properly.
And of course Piro never even tries to walk back her “forcefully and violently” and “a violent effort” rhetoric from her press conference.
Wull, maybe the teensy little detail mentioned by Ridana here made the difference.
It could be that Mr Hearn attorneys simply produced a time-stamped pic of the marauding motorcade and then double-dog-dared the Injustice Dept to go ahead and have their asses handed to them in a trial, with a grillion dollar in damages for wrongful arrest and so on.
That said… who the hell would want to drive a pack of heavy SUVs over that kind of construction site? I’d say that makes no sense, but sense left a long time ago I fear.
re outis@7:
This administration, from top to bottom, never started with any sense, so what was never there could not leave.
I’ve seen commenters elsewhere saying Hearn “needs to sue” over this egregious persecution. I’ve pointed out in response that he may have a life he’d like to get back to. The regime has effectively unlimited funds, plus the corrupt DOJ, the corrupt SCOTUS, and a considerable chunk of the lower judiciary. Even as it is, Trump may well be vindictive enough to order Blanche to find something else to charge him with.