President Donald Trump publicly broke with longtime ally Jeanine Pirro today after her office moved to dismiss criminal charges against a former Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, insisting the damage was unquestionably caused by vandals.

In a Truth Social post, Trump sharply criticized Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, for abandoning the prosecution.

“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking?” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, adding “it was a pure case of VANDALISM.”

The president acknowledged there may have been construction issues but maintained they were not responsible for the extensive damage.

“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” the president added.

Pirro’s office announced Friday that prosecutors had uncovered new evidence that significantly weakened the case against David “Davey” Hearn.

Hearn had been indicted on July 2 on allegations that he was seen “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the Reflecting Pool with both hands on June 19, shortly after renovations ordered by President Trump had been completed.

Hearn pleaded not guilty and has consistently denied damaging the pool, insisting that “the condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.”

According to prosecutors, new information provided by the Interior Department after Hearn’s indictment indicated that the deterioration was not caused by vandalism but instead stemmed from faulty work performed during the renovation.

The government said the damage “was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings.”

Hearn was among several individuals arrested in June after portions of the Reflecting Pool’s blue coating peeled away, leaving floating debris in water that had also turned green with algae.

Trump, whose more than $14 million renovation project included resurfacing the Reflecting Pool with what he described as “American flag blue,” has repeatedly rejected the explanation that construction defects were to blame.

In another Truth Social post on Shabbos, the president argued that surveillance footage supports his claim that the damage was deliberate.

“Look for yourselves at the VANDALISM that took place at The Reflecting Pool. The material is being cut with a knife or a box cutter, for all to see!” Trump wrote.

The Justice Department said Friday that it only learned after reviewing additional Interior Department documents that the damage appeared to have resulted from a construction error rather than criminal activity.

Federal officials acknowledged they would not have sought a grand jury indictment against Hearn had those documents been made available before charges were filed.

Despite the Justice Department’s decision, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum continued defending Trump’s position on Shabbos.

“The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool. Some of these acts were even caught on camera,” Burgum wrote in a post on X.

Burgum also said his department had supplied prosecutors with all requested materials.

Burgum wrote that his office “also provided the U.S. Attorney’s office expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals and provided every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested time line detailing each area of damage at the pool.”

Following the dismissal, Hearn’s attorney argued that the prosecution should never have been brought and demanded an apology from the federal government.

“The Government’s case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought,” Steven Levin, Hearn’s attorney, said in a statement. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American. The government’s approach was ready, shoot, aim. The federal government owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”

Pirro’s office also disclosed Friday that prosecutors had moved to dismiss at least one of the three other misdemeanor cases involving individuals accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool.

{Matzav.com}