U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro shouted down a reporter who repeatedly pressed her on the Reflecting Pool case President Donald Trump wants her to revive.
The exchange came Wednesday at a Washington news conference Pirro had called to announce a guilty plea in a $245 million cryptocurrency racketeering case, her office said.
Pirro's office dropped the Reflecting Pool case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn in July after concluding a contractor caused the damage, NBC News reported.
"Not you," Pirro said as she opened the floor to questions at the end of her prepared remarks, according to a transcript of the news conference.
"[The president] wants to revisit the Reflecting Pool cases of David Hearn," the reporter said.
"Why did I know that was coming? That's why I didn't call on you first," Pirro replied.
"Are you going to? And if not, why?" the reporter pressed.
"I'm not gonna talk about any other issue. I know you'd love to, but I'm not going there," Pirro said.
"President Trump has made clear that it's very important to him," the reporter said.
"And, you know, the president has the right to decide what he wants to do and what is important," Pirro answered. "And what he's shown us already is that, through the executive order, that this cryptocurrency fraud on Americans is a priority."
The reporter returned to the Reflecting Pool later in the news conference, after Pirro had taken questions on the cryptocurrency case, the transcript shows.
"I'm gonna have to ask you about the Reflecting Pool," the reporter said.
"No!" Pirro answered.
"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.
"I am not talking about that!" Pirro said, cutting off the reporter's next question. "Anyone wanna talk about this case?"
Pirro's office charged Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympic canoeist from Bethesda, Maryland, with felony destruction of property on July 2, accusing him of tearing up about 2 square feet of new sealant on the bottom of the pool, The Hill reported.
Hearn pleaded not guilty on July 9 and denied damaging anything, saying the pool was in the same condition when he stepped away from the water as it was when he arrived.
Prosecutors moved to drop the case on July 31, telling the court that the Interior Department later turned over records showing the damage resulted from "flawed installation" by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, NBC News reported.
Trump told reporters he was "very disappointed" in the decision and said Pirro "folded like an umbrella," Asked the next day whether she would keep her job, he said, "I haven't made a determination."
Trump considered removing Pirro and summoned her to the White House on Aug. 3, but he did not fire her, and she did not offer to resign, CNN reported. On Aug. 7, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision," posting images he said showed knife cuts at the pool.
Judge Todd Edelman of D.C. Superior Court formally dismissed the charge on Aug. 6 but has not decided whether prosecutors may ever bring it again, and he heard arguments on that question Sept. 4, according to ABC News.
"The U.S. Attorney's Office is not, no," Michael Spence, a lawyer from Pirro's office, told Edelman at that hearing when the judge asked whether prosecutors were still investigating Hearn.