President Donald Trump’s claims of vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have been disputed by his own administration. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, has admitted in court filings that damage to the pool was due to shoddy workmanship, not vandalism.
Background
The incident began when Trump claimed that the pool had been vandalized, and he called for the prosecution of Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who had been accused of touching a chunk of sealant in the already damaged pool. However, Pirro’s office has now dropped the charges, citing a lack of evidence.
Trump has publicly rebuked Pirro, saying he was ‘not happy’ with her decision. The White House has said that Trump was not aware ahead of time that Pirro’s office would drop the charges.
Reactions
Some Republicans have blamed Trump’s choices on ‘bad advice’ from staff. Trump has faced criticism for launching a war with Iran without fully laying out the rationale for the public or considering that country’s ability to withstand intense bombing.
Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian, said that Trump’s behavior is a form of intimidating employees to be in group-think. ‘If you work for me, you triple down,’ Brinkley said. ‘Never disagree with the boss, even in a small fractional way.’
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
