Topline

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced charges Friday against a woman accused of vandalizing the World War II memorial—as Pirro has drawn President Donald Trump’s ire for dropping a high-profile reflecting pool vandalism case.

Key Facts

Pirro announced Friday Melissa Farris had been arrested in the case and said her office would file two felony charges against Farris, writing on social media that “vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument.”

Reports of the alleged vandalism began to circulate Thursday showing the monument spraypainted with the words “clean hands dirty $" and the fountain bubbling with soap.

The charges come as Trump has openly criticized Pirro for dropping the reflecting pool vandalism case against Olympian David Hearn, telling reporters she “folded like an umbrella” and that he was “really disappointed” in her.

Tangent

Hearn’s lawyers on Thursday urged the judge in the reflecting pool case to prevent prosecutors from reviving the charges in a new filing, accusing the Justice Department of “prosecutorial harassment.” The motion cited Trump’s criticism of Pirro as reason to believe the agency could bring back the charges. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the case earlier this month, but set a later date to decide whether to dismiss the case with prejudice.

Key Background

Federal prosecutors dropped the case against Hearn, a Maryland resident and U.S. Olympic canoeist, earlier this month, acknowledging that the damage to the reflecting pool was caused by a “rushed and botched installation,” rather than vandalism. Trump admitted earlier this week there was “some contractor error done by rushing the job for a July 4th opening” and there was “no video or proof, other than the damage itself” that it was caused by vandalism. The admission contradicts his previous insistence that his administration had photographic evidence of people using box cutters to slice the lining of the pool. He maintained in his post on Sunday, however, that a National Park Service employee saw Hearn “violently” tugging at the liner. Hearn said he briefly touched a loose piece of sealant in the pool when he stopped to observe it out of curiosity, but did not intentionally damage the pool. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of felony destruction of property.

further reading

Prosecutors Drop Charges Against 3 Others In Reflecting Pool Case (Forbes)

Trump Admits ‘Some Contractor Error’ In Reflecting Pool Repairs (Forbes)