According to two persons familiar with the heated exchange, President Donald Trump attacked US Attorney Jeanine Pirro at a White House meeting on Monday night over a court filing that attributed the damage to the Reflecting Pool to poor craftsmanship rather than vandalism.
According to those acquainted with the relationship, Pirro and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who was also there at the meeting, are deeply at odds over the supposedly disastrous Reflecting Pool project and the ensuing vandalism charges. Although Trump has criticized Pirro in private, sources told CNN that he did not fire her or request her resignation on Monday.
The case that accused an ex-Olympian of tearing up some of the pool lining was dropped by the DC US Attorney's Office late last week. Pirro's prosecutors stated in court that they thought the Interior Department had misled them until Burgum's staff finally turned over records showing the pool had significant damage long before Olympic canoeist David Hearn visited the pool, according to court records.
According to persons familiar with the situation, Pirro has privately criticized Burgum's staff to senior aides in the West Wing and placed the blame firmly on Interior for failing to provide her with the facts that revealed the case was not prosecutable prior to her presentation. Another individual with knowledge of the discussion said Pirro brought boxes of documentation to the White House to support her allegations that poor workmanship, not vandalism, was the cause of the damage at the reflecting pool.
According to those acquainted with the inner workings of the US Attorney's Office, Pirro herself called for the case to be dropped and beforehand discussed her plans with officials in the White House and the Justice Department, CNN reported. Her office declined to respond.
According to one of the persons familiar with the situation, Burgum and his team felt that directly accusing the department in the legal file was needlessly hostile, and the move put the Interior Department on the defensive. Additionally, some have questioned why Pirro did not initially try to resolve her concerns in private, claiming that by publicly exposing the case's flaws, she opted to blindside Trump and other senior officials.
According to the individual, the president has become more sensitive to criticism regarding the Reflecting Pool because of his personal stake in a project that he sees in part as a test of his own development abilities.
Requests for response were not answered by the Interior Department or the White House.
According to two people briefed on the discussion, Trump's annoyance with Pirro was evident on Monday night when he yelled at her and "read her the riot act." Several people familiar with the relationship stated they think Pirro is safe for the time being, noting her years-long relationship with Trump, despite White House officials saying she was still on thin ice.
He would find it difficult to fire her. According to one of the insiders, "anything can happen, but he likes her and he's not the same impulsive guy he was during the first term."
Trump reiterated his criticism of Pirro on Tuesday night, stating that he thinks "she's totally wrong" about the way the matter was handled. However, he did not specify whether Pirro would stay in the position.
Before leaving Los Angeles for Las Vegas, Trump told reporters, "Well, I just think she is totally wrong."
"And I told her I was not happy," Trump continued, adding that he had approached Pirro about the matter.
Trump refused to make a commitment when asked if Pirro would continue to serve as US attorney. He declared, "I haven't made a determination."
A chaotic office
Since taking office as US Attorney for Washington, DC, 15 months ago, Pirro has had to walk a tightrope since Trump has utilized DC law enforcement to set the political tone of his administration.
Trump increased federal law enforcement in the nation's capital city during her administration, which led to an exponential increase in the number of criminal cases Pirro's office handled in court. Many seasoned prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office were also dismissed by his Justice Department leadership due to their involvement in earlier Trump prosecutions or the January 6 Capitol riot cases.
In the federal court in Washington, DC, grand juries and trial juries have consistently rejected prosecutors' claims; this appears to be a referendum on the Trump administration's strategy.
The criminal division's personnel and morale have been severely strained. Right now, you've witnessed that unfold. Kevin Owen, a lawyer for a number of former federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, who were dismissed early in the Trump administration, stated, "That these cases are being brought and they're falling apart."
Nevertheless, Pirro has stabilized some aspects of her US Attorney's Office, such as the prosecutors in the DC Superior Court division that dealt with the Reflecting Pool cases. According to one source, she has occasionally called acting Attorney General Todd Blanche directly to encourage her career prosecutors' investigative efforts in high-profile cases.
Pirro has supported the longtime career prosecutor who signed the motion to drop the prosecution against the Olympian in the Reflecting Pool case.
Michael Spence, a former murder prosecutor who currently oversees the division of the office in charge of DC Superior Court, or local, criminal cases, is respected by her and others there, according to five people familiar with the office.
Because Pirro's office obtained Park Police testimony on the Reflecting Pool damage, the case was first viewed by the US Attorney's Office as one that prosecutors could legitimately pursue. According to several of the individuals, prosecutors discussed whether the case should be in federal or Superior Court prior to filing charges.
Just before Independence Day, a Superior Court grand jury finally approved the case, which had been proceeding swiftly through the legal system. Pirro and others went to the then-drained Reflecting Pool on July 17. According to court documents, prosecutors started requesting additional information from the Interior Department following that visit.
In a move beyond what Pirro's office had requested, Hearn's attorneys late on Tuesday requested that the DC Superior Court dismiss the case against him with prejudice so that it could never be brought again.
Records of how Pirro's office brought the case were also requested. A hearing has been set for September by a Superior Court judge.
"There is no accountability in the government's internal blame game. Hearn's attorney Michael Bromwich stated, "It's the opposite." "We will decide which of our numerous options best serves Mr. Hearn's interests in upholding his reputation."
Both Trump and Pirro are from New York and have been friends for many years. Pirro was a fervent supporter of Trump both throughout her tenure as a Fox News host and, most famously, during the 2020 election, when she reiterated his refuted allegations that the election was rigged.
Pirro's attempts to placate Trump have startled the legal establishment on multiple occasions. She has assigned a few close employees to focus on Trump's top political matters, mainly isolating them from the rest of the US Attorney's Office.
Pirro has made fruitless attempts over the past year to charge current members of Congress for a video they recorded, which courts determined to be First Amendment-protected speech. She has also criticized the top judge of the DC District Court for dismissing a related subpoena and attempted to look into former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
However, her strong attitude to prosecuting serious crimes and her legal expertise as a former district attorney in New York state have been praised by career prosecutors in her office. Additionally, according to sources, she still has private meetings with judges in both the DC Superior Court and DC's federal District Court. This is standard procedure for US Attorneys to keep a relationship with the bench.
