When Donald Trump says he disagrees “100%” with one of his own appointees — publicly, on Truth Social, with the words “I don’t know what she was thinking?” — it isn’t a subtle hint. It’s a verdict. And in the case of Jeanine Pirro dropping charges against Reflecting Pool vandal David Hearn, Trump’s verdict is correct.
Here’s the sequence. Pirro’s office indicted Hearn — a 67-year-old three-time Olympian — in July after he allegedly used his bare hands to tear apart the newly installed sealant lining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. At the time, Pirro was unambiguous. Her office had evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn had “willfully destroyed” federal property and acted “forcefully and violently.” A grand jury indicted him. He pleaded not guilty.
Then on Friday, Pirro’s office dropped the charges entirely. The reason? The damage, they now say, was largely the result of a rushed and defective installation — contractor error rather than criminal vandalism.
The problem with that reasoning is the video Trump released Saturday showing the pool’s lining being cut with a knife or box cutter. Not pulled apart by bare hands. Cut. Deliberately. With a blade. That is not a defective installation problem. That is a crime being committed on camera at a national monument.
Trump named it plainly: the pool wasn’t just damaged by Hearn. There was the 350-foot gash cut into the pool’s bottom. There was “86 47” — James Comey’s favorite numbers — burned into the grass nearby, which is not the work of a clumsy contractor. The Reflecting Pool has been a sustained, targeted attack by people who hate the president enough to destroy a national landmark to make a political point. And now the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has decided that at least one of those attacks doesn’t warrant prosecution.
The contractor defense is particularly worth scrutinizing. Yes, there appear to have been problems with the installation. Yes, Pirro’s office says peeling was widespread. But “the liner was imperfect” and “someone cut it with a blade” are not mutually exclusive facts. A defective installation doesn’t authorize vandalism. A grand jury already found sufficient evidence of criminal conduct to indict. The question isn’t whether the pool had problems — it’s whether Hearn deliberately damaged federal property, and the video Trump released suggests the answer to that question is yes.
Pirro has left enough legal room to reinstate charges if she chooses. Given the public pressure she’s now under from the president of the United States, that possibility can’t be dismissed.
Trump called it vandalism. The video makes his case. And a U.S. Attorney who brought charges, obtained an indictment, and then walked it back needs a considerably more compelling explanation than contractor error.
“I don’t know what she was thinking.”
Neither do a lot of people, Jeanine.
