The failure of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to prosecute a former Olympian for allegedly damaging the resurfaced reflection pool at the Lincoln Monument may lead to her termination.
President Donald Trump is furious at Pirro after she dropped the charges against 67-year-old David Hearn on Saturday, according to two sources who spoke to CNN.
‘Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.’
Hearn pleaded not guilty to the felony charge of destruction of property after National Park Service employees allegedly saw him willfully and “violently” damage a section of the lining of the pool.
Trump is reportedly thinking about firing Pirro after she admitted that the damage to the lining was more likely to be the result of flawed installation rather than vandalism.
One of the sources said the president “fumed” over the situation throughout the weekend, and the source concluded that it’s “highly likely she’s removed from her job.”
The other source said Trump was “blindsided” by the decision to drop the charge.
“The president did not know beforehand that she was going to do that,” the source said.
The White House directed CNN to the president’s comments to reporters.
“Frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked,” the president said on Monday at the Oval Office.
“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella,” Trump added.
One of the CNN sources said the president and Pirro had a phone conversation on Saturday about the issue and described the interaction as not “pretty.”
The president also blasted Pirro in a post on social media Saturday.
“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM,” Trump wrote.
Hearn had been facing 10 years in prison over the charge.
RELATED: Trump greets crew that restored Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in visit to the White House
Pirro blamed the Dept. of the Interior in the filing.
“Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” she wrote.
“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,” she added.
CNN noted that Hearn has some legal options available to him that would include suing the administration and referring prosecutors to disciplinary action.
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