Here's the thing. When your own hand-picked U.S. Attorney files a 20-page brief saying the damage to your signature renovation project was caused by 'a botched installation' and 'the rush to complete the project' before the America 250 celebration — that is not a great day for the narrative.
Jeanine Pirro, Trump's appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, moved Friday to drop criminal charges against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist who had been indicted for allegedly peeling up a two-foot square piece of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool's new liner. Her reasoning: additional documents provided by the Interior Department after the indictment show the widespread damage was the result of contractor failure, not vandalism.
The $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof the pool's concrete floor had gone to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings. Trump had directed the bottom be painted what he called 'American flag blue.' Within days of completion, the liner was peeling.
Pirro's filing went further, blaming the Interior Department directly. 'Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession,' the filing states, 'the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment.' A recent visual inspection found damage throughout the pool — including in the middle, where prosecutors acknowledged a vandal would not likely have attempted to peel the lining.
Trump, posting on social media Saturday, acknowledged there 'may have been some contractor difficulty' but insisted 'the major damage was caused by VANDALS!' He also posted a security camera video he claims shows material being cut — though the footage, taken from a distance, shows workers standing nearby who appear not to notice anything happening.
Hearn's legal team was not impressed by the partial pivot. 'Trump is mad at Pirro because she finally admitted what we made clear in our legal filings all along,' the team said in a statement, adding that Pirro's claim her office was 'duped' by Interior was 'nonsense.'
The Interior Department did not respond to requests for comment. Atlantic Industrial Coatings did not respond to requests for comment.
Voltage's read: A $14.7 million no-bid contract, a rushed completion deadline tied to a national celebration, and a prosecution that collapsed the moment the contracting documents surfaced — this is what happens when accountability runs in only one direction. The taxpayer funded the renovation, the taxpayer funded the prosecution, and the taxpayer is now left holding a drained pool and a dismissed indictment. The demo is not the product. Neither, it turns out, was the liner.
