US Atty Pirro Admits Reflecting Pool Mess Due To Botched Job, Not Vandals
NEWS & RESEARCH
After getting a grand jury to indict a former Olympian for allegedly tearing up the Reflecting Pool that sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument in DC, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro acknowledged that the damage was actually caused by a botched job the contractor. President Trump intimated that he may fire Pirro for not pursuing the vandalism prosecution. Trump had steered a no-bid contract to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings (AIC) to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue, citing the urgency of having it done for the 4th of July. AIC previously performed work at Trump’s National Golf Club in Sterling, VA . According to a Park Service contracting specialist, AIC charged a 20 percent profit —adding at least $850,000 to the cost—substantially more than the typical 6 to 12 percent profit margin for similar contracts. Yet the Reflecting Pool turned swampy green from algae within in weeks, which Trump blamed on former President Obama and box-cutter wielding vandals who claimed cut a 300-foot gash in the Reflecting Pool liner. Former Fox News host and Trump’s handpicked US Attorney for the District of Columbia Pirro, persuaded a grand jury to indict a 67-year-old former US Olympic canoeist David Hearn on a felony charge of destruction of property, punishable by 10 years in prison. But the government’s own report found tha tthe damage was caused by the contractor’s botched job and Pirro dropped the charges, incurring Trump’s wrath. Now Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, is seeking records about the bases for the Hearn prosecution.
SOURCES: AlterNet | New York Times | New York Times | New York Times | Independent | The Guardian | Washington Post | Washington Post
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Contracting experts and former consultants questioned the sharply inflated price, the double-accounting for inflation, and the use of "emergency" procedures for a project described by specialists as relatively low in technical complexity. Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, called the Trump renovation projects a way that “friends and business associates of the president are being rewarded with no public scrutiny.” Olympian Hearn asserted he was indicted to provide cover for Trump’s narrative that vandals damaged the Reflecting Pool, an assertion bolstered by the government’s report and Pirro’s decision to drop the charges.
SOURCES: New York Times | The Independent | New York Times | WAFB9 | Fortune | Newsweek
HOW TO FIX IT
Tighten Exemptions: Congress should narrowly define the "emergency" carve-outs that allow for sole-source or no-bid contracts.
Strengthen Oversight: Enhance conflict-of-interest statutes and enforcement mechanisms within federal contracting.
Rigorous Implementation: Support amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation to prevent organizational conflicts of interest in federal acquisitions.
Investigate: Congress should probe whether US Attorney Jeanine Pirro sought Hearn’s felony indictment as vindictive prosecution to cover for the failure of the Reflecting Pool renovation project.
