Trump Goons’ Explosive Oval Office Shouting Match Revealed
Details have emerged about a fiery Oval Office meeting between two Donald Trump loyalists over the sham criminal probe into damage at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
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In one corner was U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who has felt the president’s wrath after announcing that the Department of Justice would drop charges against former Olympian David Hearn, who had been accused of sabotaging the pool liner in Washington, D.C.
In the other corner was Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whom Pirro blamed for misleading Trump by failing to turn over information showing that the damage to the pool’s liner was the result of a “rushed and flawed” installation process by a contractor hired by Burgum’s department, rather than vandalism, until after the indictment against Hearn had been filed.
Pirro, 75, has privately called Burgum, 70, an “incompetent liar” over the reflecting pool debacle, which could still cost her her job as the top federal prosecutor in D.C., The New York Times reported. During Monday’s crunch meeting in the Oval Office, Pirro repeatedly yelled at Burgum, accusing him of not being honest with the president about the source of the damage to the algae-infested pool during the multimillion-dollar renovation project.
Pirro also accused Burgum of deliberately suggesting the pool had been targeted by vandals in order to cover up the botched workmanship of the contractor hired to oversee the renovation.
The former Fox News host came prepared after being summoned to the Oval Office by the 80-year-old president. Pirro arrived for the showdown carrying boxes of evidence that she said showed Burgum’s department had known all along that Hearn did not vandalize the reflecting pool.
Pirro had previously announced that documents eventually produced by the Department of the Interior revealed the liner had already been damaged before Hearn visited the pool on June 19. Her office also noted that an inspection found damage throughout the reflecting pool, including in the middle of it, where “a vandal would not likely attempt to peel the lining.”
Had Hearn been convicted of the felony property destruction charge, he faced up to 10 years in prison.
The president was also furious over the saga, which had embarrassed his administration. Trump reportedly yelled at Pirro and “read her the riot act” after she dropped the vandalism case, a source told CNN.
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However, sources also told the Times that Trump seemed “considerably less angry” by the end of Monday’s meeting.
Trump has made no secret of his anger over Pirro publicly contradicting his insistence that the reflecting pool had been targeted by vandals.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday before the meeting, Trump accused Pirro of “folding like an umbrella.” The president also suggested she had “choked” because the judge overseeing the case was “really vicious.”
Trump refused to say Tuesday night whether Pirro’s job was safe while continuing to push the false vandalism claims.
“Well, I just think she was totally wrong,” Trump told reporters. “It was actually, in my opinion, it was major vandalism, and I told her I was not happy.”
When asked whether he would fire Pirro, Trump replied: “I haven’t made a determination.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House, Jeanine Pirro’s office, and the Interior Department for comment.
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