They said it couldn’t be done… and it couldn’t. No reputable pool contractor would agree to Donald Trump’s demand that a new lining and nano-bubbler technology be (properly) installed at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool by July 4. So Trump instead handed out a no-bid contract to his pool guy, and ever since work was “completed” the landmark has been a cesspool of algae, peeling liner, and dead ducks. Of course Trump can’t admit to fault or failure, so he’s spent the summer decrying the decrepit state of the pool as the work of VANDALS! On June 19, his goons arrested one alleged vandal, former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, after he merely touched a piece of floating liner. US attorney for Fox News DC Jeanine Pirro charged Hearn with damaging government property to the tune of $1,000, to which Hearn pleaded not guilty last month. At the time, I said I hoped the charges were dismissed before Hearn’s next scheduled court date of August 5. Well, it seems Pirro doesn’t want to be disbarred for Trump, cause guess who just filed to have the charges dismissed?
Pirro had previously lambasted Hearn in a press conference on July 2, claiming he “woefully destroyed property” in a “deliberate act” to damage the monument by “forcefully and violently” pulling the pool’s lining.
Friday’s court filing, however, states that the recently applied blue sealant at the bottom of the pool started to peel “almost immediately” after the work was completed following renovations to the site last month.
The Department of Interior “provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case,” according to the filing from Pirro’s office. It was not until after the indictment was filed that the federal agent determined that the “damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism,” the filing states.
“The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” according to a statement to The Independent from Hearn’s counsel Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of the Washington Litigation Group and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP.
“Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology,” they said.
The shallow pool, which the president repeatedly promotes as “bigger than skyscrapers,” was refurbished with a shade of dark blue and outfitted with “advanced nanobubbler technology” to tackle algae blooms that have long plagued the landmark.
Algae returned shortly after the renovations were complete, and the new sealant started to peel off in chunks that bubbled to the surface.
Trump initially said a refurbishing project for the 2,030-foot pool could be done quickly for $1.5 million in time for White House-backed Fourth of July celebrations.
His administration has now spent $14.7 million, with all funds directed to Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, Virginia, according to federal spending records.
The administration bypassed a typical competitive bid process and gave the company a no-bid contract by arguing the need for renovations was so urgent that any delays would cause “serious injury” to the government, though it remains unclear what that “injury” entails.
The pool has been closed and drained, again, for more repairs.
[From The Independent via Yahoo]
Jeanine Pirro, one month ago and full-chested at a press conference mic: “We can state and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he caused damage.” Pirro, last Friday quietly in a court filing: “Actually, all damage was ‘the result of flawed installation by the contractor’ and not mythical vandals, oops our bad.” I’m paraphrasing that second quote, except for the flawed installation by the contractor part. And here’s what we also learned from the recent court filings: the pool was leaking 1 million gallons A WEEK before Hearn was arrested on June 19. Yeah, cause that’s what happens when you entrust skilled labor work to a cartoon villain! Oh, and funny story, that same flawed contractor is doing the repairs!! What’s the definition of insanity, again? Electing the same president/pool contractor and expecting different results.
I hope he sues the he!! out of them for wrongful arrest.
So, the diaper don didn’t wreck the liner by driving his entire motorcade down the length of the pool? Honestly, watching this “reality show” from up North…one can’t make any of this up, while at the same time questioning one’s hearing and eyesight. The only word available to me is ludicrous! I’m no conspiracy theorist, but what’s really going on while the current administration is constantly tryinging to distract the American people?
It’s ludicrous & costly; that’s our tax dollars being wasted! And while yes, trump’s motorcade did drive down the thing that single act in & of itself didn’t cause the leak. trump’s hiring the worst possible person to fix the thing (did it need fixing? I can’t remember what it was like beforehand) is the problem. More money laundering, I’m sure.
The administration also seems to have made it a habit to reduce or drop charges to avoid further scrutiny of their methods, including charging people without proper evidence, using the justice system maliciously, and improper grand jury procedures.
If Hearn has the time and resources, I hope he pursues justice, because his reputation was damaged, all to soothe a president’s fragile ego.
Multiple people were charged with damaging the reflecting pool. I’d like to know more about what’s been happening to them, too. It’s good, I think, that Hearn’s case has justly garnered so much attention. While I’m heartened by the current result, I’m also extremely concerned. Either Trump is a lying liar who lies and uses the force of his office to attempt to attack people that he is well aware are innocent of the crimes that he has accused them of — or he is a deluded, befuddled mess of confusions who has used the considerable powers of his office to attack innocent people. Or both. In any case, his political apparatus has mostly supported him. It seems that self-interest rather than a desire for justice is behind dropping the charges against Hearn. Meanwhile, we the people have been momentarily distracted from the rot.
“either a lying liar… or a deluded, befuddled mess of confusions…”
Both?
Why not both??
Both.
Both. Definitely both.
He needs to sue them collectively, the admin DOJ etc..
And then sue them individually for defamation and causing irreparable harm. Sue them into oblivion.
Pirro needs to lose her law license at minimum!
“woefully”? “fulsome”? Does Jeanine Pirro not have access to a dictionary? Or at the least, to some educated assistants?
What a load of hogswollop from Pirro et al.
David Hearn was charged on July 2. Yet there are news stories, including one from a DC Faux station, from two weeks prior saying “newly applied coating reportedly began peeling less than a month after installation.” And of course we should totally ignore the news from May of this year when there were even congressional hearings about the no-bid contract awarded to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, LLC, or the fact that they were allowed to start work even before having a contract. Documents reviewed by NYT in mid-May showed that Atlantic Industrial Coatings had failed to properly seal gaps in the concrete on the floor of the pool the first two times it tried. Where was JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force?
OTOH, Ambassador Norm Eisen founded Democracy Defenders Fund in 2023 to ‘defend the rule of law, fight corruption, and safeguard elections’. Republicans have questioned its 501(c)(3) status, but haven’t yet succeeded in pressuring IRS to revoke it.
Outrageous. Hopefully he sues.