RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesFoundation suing over Trump’s renovations to the landmark want access to the site before recently revealed damage is ‘lost forever’
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A preservation group suing Donald Trump’s administration over renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool says the government is working to “destroy the very evidence” that proves recent construction caused damage to the landmark.
The Cultural Heritage Foundation has asked a federal judge for permission to “assess the current state of the Reflecting Pool and the reasons for its problems” after officials admitted in court filings that the recently installed pool lining was “cut with a sharp knife or razor.”
But the government has undertaken efforts to “destroy some of the very evidence that could shed light on the veracity of Defendants’ claims” by closing off and renovating the Washington D.C., landmark, again, to fix the damage, lawyers wrote Tuesday.
The request follows a stunning admission from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro that the Trump administration had no evidence to prosecute a former Olympian who was accused of vandalizing the monument, which was most likely damaged by a “rushed and botched installation” by contractors.
All the foundation is asking for is a chance to see the damage for themselves “before it is lost forever,” lawyers said.
Last week, Pirro’s office filed a motion to drop charges against 67-year-old former Olympian David Hearn, who was accused of damaging a recently applied blue lining that broke from the bottom of the pool and flapped to the surface.
But evidence from the Department of Interior appeared to show that the blue sealant started to peel “almost immediately” after the work was completed, according to Pirro’s office.
It was not until after the indictment was filed against Hearn that the Department of Interior determined that the “damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism,” the filing states.
The Trump administration “slowly started trickling information” to her office after investigators tried to reach out “dozens and dozens of times,” according to Pirro’s motion.
Had the Interior Department “been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” Pirro’s office wrote.
The administration’s documents “reveal that work on installing the lining almost immediately fell behind, due to a combination of very rainy and windy weather, repeated failures of testing on the sealing of the expansion joints, and delays in obtaining sealing product at the work site,” according to the filing.
“The rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed,” Pirro added.
In court filings in the lawsuit, a top official at the National Park Service admitted that damage to the pool’s lining was investigated on June 10 — several days before Hearn was arrested for allegedly damaging the pool.
According to Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service, a police report indicates that damage to the pool included “caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material.
About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he wrote.
His statement did not indicate whether the damage was being investigated for vandalism or identify anyone who might have been involved.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to baselessly insist that vandals used box cutters to damage the lining while publicly slamming Pirro, who he called into the White House after accusing her of “choking” on the case. Pirro was seen lugging what appeared to be evidence boxes into the Oval Office on Monday evening.
“I was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro,” Trump told reporters before the meeting. “She folded like an umbrella.”
The president said she “choked” and blamed the judge overseeing the case, who has barely interacted with any of the arguments or filings so far.
“I think she choked, because the judge was really vicious,” he said. “Instead of going after the people who did it, he went after her, and went after her department, and I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened.”
In an interview with Fox News that aired Tuesday, Trump said Pirro’s decision to drop the case against Hearn “was totally wrong.”
The company that was paid nearly $15 million in no-bid government contracts to work on the Reflecting Pool “did a beautiful job,” he said.
“There were a couple of little things, but that was not a big deal,” he added. “And everybody saw the vandalism. All you have to do is look at the tape. If you look at the tape, plus we have a witness or two witnesses that saw the vandalism. So certainly, when there was vandalism, it was actually, in my opinion, it was major vandalism. And I told her I was not happy.”
It is unclear what “tape” contains evidence of the vandalism allegations, and witness testimony “established that the pool had substantial preexisting damage requiring repair before any alleged conduct by Mr. Hearn,” according to his legal team.
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