Pirro Visits White House Hours After Trump Said She ‘Choked’ in Reflecting Pool Case
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, visited the White House on Monday after President Donald Trump said she botched a criminal prosecution.
On Friday, Pirro’s office moved to drop a felony charge against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe slalomist. Last month, Hearn was charged with one felony count of destruction of government property, to which he pleaded not guilty. In a press conference announcing the charge, Pirro insisted that the government could prove that Hearn damaged the pool by ripping up the lining. The prosecution came after Trump dubiously claimed that the Reflecting Pool, which had been plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint, had been destroyed by vandals.
“Frankly, I think she choked,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “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. I don’t know what the hell happened.”
Hours later, multiple outlets reported seeing Pirro enter and exit the White House grounds. Sources told ABC News that Trump had privately discussed firing Pirro.
CNN’s Kit Maher posted a photo of Pirro leaving the White House while wheeling a briefcase and white box behind her. Maher noted that it appeared to be the same briefcase and box that an aide brought into the West Wing earlier.
In her motion to dismiss, Pirro blamed the Department of the Interior for failing to provide her office with the information necessary to conclude that the damage to the Reflecting Pool was due to the “botched” renovation.
That excuse did not fly with CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig, who said Pirro failed to ascertain the facts first before deciding whether to bring charges.
“It’s your job as a prosecutor to get the relevant information first,” he said on Friday. “You don’t charge first and then figure it out. You get the information first and then charge. So, it’s a true embarrassment for Jeanine Pirro. It’s a true embarrassment for DOJ, and they brought it on themselves.”
The post Pirro Visits White House Hours After Trump Said She ‘Choked’ in Reflecting Pool Case first appeared on Mediaite.