As I predicted here, after charges were dropped against David Hearn for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool, charges against others arrested for the same offense have also been dropped.
In addition to Hearn, prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges against three others accused of similar damage: Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Cameron Thiers, according to court filings. The three were accused of destroying property of value less than $1,000...
Allen Dale, an attorney representing Thiers, said in a phone interview Monday that his client was "happy now that this case has been dismissed," but that the last six weeks since he was charged have been a "nightmare."
In a statement to CBS News, Jamison Koehler, an attorney representing Dennison-Gibbey, said his client "was arrested for a crime any rational person knows she did not commit."
David Benowitz, a partner at Price Benowitz LLP who represents Carreno, said his client was a government contractor who was fired days after he was arrested, resulting in Carreno moving from his home due to being unable to afford rent during the "tragedy" his client faced.
"We were all at the pool, there's no slashes," Benowitz said in a phone interview with CBS News. As part of a visit to the pool to investigate the damage, Benowitz said he and other lawyers saw the "flawed seams" in the pool and where the liner "bubbled up."
At one point reports indicated that seven people had been arrested but it seems only these four were facing charges and now those charges have all been dropped. As you probably heard, Trump was furious with Jeanine Pirro for dropping the charges against Hearn.
Despite Jeanine Pirro's office filing a 20-page dismissal memo citing a lack of evidence, the president is standing by his claims that the incident was an act of vandalism. On Friday, Trump stated he "100% disagreed" with her reasoning.
When asked by a reporter about the decision to drop the criminal charges on Monday, Trump stated, "Jeanine Pirro made a mistake… It was vandalism."...
"The judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine. And frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious," Trump said. "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."
After she was called out by the president last Friday, Pirro was seen visiting the White House yesterday. Today there are several stories up about what happened during that meeting.
The top federal prosecutor in the nation's capital carted a box full of evidence to the White House on Monday, in a bid to prove to President Trump that the damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by shoddy construction and not by vandals, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, a staunch ally of the president, made the case in a sometimes heated private meeting in the Oval Office Monday, hours after Mr. Trump had publicly rebuked her for dropping criminal charges against Olympic canoeist David Hearn.
The NY Times has a bit more detail. It sounds like this was a battle between Pirro and Doug Burgum, who had been pushing the vandalism angle.
Waiting for her in the Oval Office, along with the president: Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and David Warrington, the White House counsel.
After about an hour of intense back-and-forth, Ms. Pirro emerged with her job intact, for now.
During the meeting, Ms. Pirro, her voice raised at times, directly confronted Mr. Burgum, accusing him of misleading the president. She made the case that Mr. Burgum had promoted a self-serving cover story to conceal his own missteps.
Mr. Burgum spoke less, but did his best to defend himself, according to a person briefed on the exchange requesting anonymity to discuss internal conversations.
Mr. Trump seemed considerably less angry by day’s end, the person said.
The company that did the work isn't talking to the press but they did post a statement suggesting some repairs would need to be made. It looks to me like Pirro made the right choice here. She dropped the case before it got tossed out of court. Supposedly, she reviewed hundreds of pages of evidence that prove the problem was poor installation, not vandalism.
Meanwhile, there was vandalism nearby on the grass but so far no one has been identified or charged in that case.
