Trump’s Latest Obsession Will Be a Huge Headache for Todd Blanche

It’s been another week of President Donald Trump wasting the U.S. taxpayers’ time and money. Trump’s most recent obsession is still the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which is damaged by construction work he himself ordered, despite his own Department of Justice giving up on absurd vandalism charges against citizens who had allegedly removed peeling material from the pool. Democrats are taking the hint, though, and attempting to hold his administration accountable here. Through the investigative powers of the House Judiciary Committee, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin initiated an investigation into the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and how her prosecutors secured a grand jury indictment against 67-year-old David Hearn for “vandalizing” the Reflecting Pool, only to dismiss the case within weeks. And the very same day Raskin announced this, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House is in discussions with the DOJ to potentially consider new charges against Hearn. It’s safe to say that newly minted Attorney General Todd Blanche has his work cut out for him.

The president has been bizarrely fixated on the Reflecting Pool since the start of his second term, forcing a $15 million taxpayer-funded renovation to repair, resurface, and paint it “American flag blue.” Within weeks of the renovation’s completion, numerous defects were spotted , with a liner installed on the bottom of the pool peeling in various places and algae again infesting the water. Trump quickly claimed that vandals were responsible for the pool’s issues, without citing any real evidence, but nonetheless, Pirro had her marching orders. Within days she secured a grand jury indictment against Hearn, who on June 19 had stopped by the Reflecting Pool while on a bike ride and briefly touched a chunk of pool liner that had detached and floated to the top.

In a letter to Pirro and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Raskin said Hearn was subsequently arrested and charged with a felony destruction of government property. He was detained for five hours and eventually let go. Less than two weeks later, Pirro moved to dismiss the charges against Hearn, telling the court that Interior Department officials failed to give her key exculpatory evidence, including documents that indicated that “damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor,” and not Hearn’s actions. Pirro squarely placed the blame on Burgum’s office, which she claimed provided “barebones police reports” despite her asking for “everything.”

Raskin wasn’t buying this. “Despite DOJ’s attempt to point the finger at DOI, recent filings show that Ms. Pirro’s team of prosecutors was perfectly aware of Mr. Hearn’s likely innocence before they charged him with a felony,” arguing that a Reflecting Pool damage-assessment report that was dated two days before Hearn’s indictment revealed “systemic failure and peeling of the liner around the area where Mr.