All posts tagged "Lincoln Memorial"

President Donald Trump doubled down on claims Friday that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was vandalized and took another swipe at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he commented more about his accusations.

"Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool," Trump wrote. ...

The Trump administration — fresh off a failed attempt to blame vandals for botched work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — has tried once again to dodge responsibility and enraged locals in the process.

Trump's latest political jab spurred one D.C. local to snap off a photo and send it to Newsweek, along with a vent over her frustration.

The photo shows that the National Park Service has posted a sign on the monument blaming previous administrations for neglecting the site, claiming "more than half of the 58 water supply ports were so clogged that they were deemed nonfunctioning."...

Attorney Jeanine Pirro was on thin ice with President Donald Trump, who publicly turned on her as Fox News went quiet.

Salon's Sophia Tesfaye called the former Fox News host's "downfall" a "classic MAGA tale" after the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool alleged vandalism case collapsed. Facing calls for disbarment and rumors that Trump would replace her, "the former Fox News star couldn't sustain Trump's fantasy."

"The saga of the Reflecting Pool is emblematic of everything amiss in America right now, a perfect diorama of how right-wing media turns Trump’s fantasies into public reality, and then tries to quietly conceal the wreckage once the facts catch up," Tesfaye wrote. "Fox News was happy to amplify the vandalism narrative when it was useful. But once the case fell apart, the network gave it barely cursory treatment, a striking silence from an outlet that had spent weeks covering the alleged desecration of a national monument when the story served the White House."...

CNN anchor Erin Burnett said she was "stunned" Friday after the Trump Justice Department withdrew criminal charges against an Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The DOJ made its announcement that it would drop charges against David 'Davey' Hearn just as Burnett was speaking with former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) and political consultant Karen Finney.

"U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office admitted in a new filing, this is really important that they learned after filing the charges against Hearn that 'damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration," Burnett said. ...

In an admission of error, the Trump Justice Department withdrew criminal charges against an Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Justice Department prosecutors acknowledged in a court filing that contrary to the assertions they made that David 'Davey' Hearn had damaged the iconic landmark, "damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor," Meidas Touch's Scott MacFarlane reported.

The DOJ further admitted they have new information "showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by [the Department of the Interior]."...

Former CNN broadcaster Jim Acosta warned that President Donald Trump could be considered a "vandal" accused of damaging federal property — just as the president has threatened to others over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Acosta spoke with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) about the president's threat to arrest and charge anyone who damaged the remodeled monument during an episode of "The Jim Acosta Show" on Wednesday. He suggested Trump could be facing questions over vandalism.

"The Trump administration is talking about how destroying federal property is a crime, and it's true," Acosta said. "There is a law that says you can't destroy federal property. And I think if it's over $1,000 or something like that, it becomes potentially a felony and you could go to prison for 10 years."
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