(CNN) — President Donald Trump is considering removing Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, over that problems with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool stemmed from a flawed renovation rather than vandalism, two people familiar with his thinking told CNN.
The president is 鈥渇urious鈥� with Pirro, one of the sources said, telling CNN that he . They added that based on his criticisms of her, they find it 鈥渉ighly likely she鈥檚 removed from her job.鈥�
The other source, a senior administration official, said Trump was 鈥渂lindsided鈥� by Pirro鈥檚 court filing: 鈥淭he president did not know beforehand that she was going to do that.鈥�
CNN has reached out to Pirro鈥檚 office and the Justice Department for comment. The White House directed CNN to the president鈥檚 prior comments on the filing and did not comment on the substance of the reporting.
鈥淔rankly, I think she choked, because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked,鈥� Trump said during an unrelated Oval Office event Monday.
鈥淚 was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed in Jeanine Pirro,鈥� he added. 鈥淪he folded like an umbrella.鈥�
The Justice Department acknowledged in a court filing on Friday that the president鈥檚 $14 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool was 鈥渉asty and botched鈥� and said it was dropping the criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn, who was accused of vandalizing the landmark. Hearn previously to the felony charge in DC鈥檚 Superior Court.
Trump and Pirro, a former Fox 太子探花 host and longtime ally of the president, spoke by phone on Saturday about the court filing. Their conversation 鈥渨asn鈥檛 pretty,鈥� said one of the sources, who was read out on the call.
Pirro told Trump it was the career officials in her office that were responsible for the filing, another source said. A longtime prosecutor who oversees prosecutions in DC Superior Court signed the court filing asking to dismiss the case on Friday.
In addition to the Saturday call, Pirro has spoken with Trump multiple times about the situation.
Trump on Saturday publicly criticized the move, : 鈥淚 disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don鈥檛 know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM.鈥�
Pirro argued in her filing that the Department of Interior, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, 鈥減rovided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case.鈥�
鈥淗ad DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,鈥� it read.
Despite those accusations, the president is not angry with Burgum, the sources said, and he continues to believe that vandals are responsible for the damage to the Reflecting Pool. Burgum dismissed Pirro鈥檚 argument in a social media post on Saturday, saying, 鈥淭he evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool.鈥�
However, internal communications CNN received through FOIA requests between the National Park Service 鈥� which oversaw the project under the Department of Interior 鈥� and DC Water from March through last month make no mention of any vandalism as the department was planning to drain the pool.
Trump had said the pool would need to be drained to 鈥� yet an email from NPS acknowledged as early as July 1 that the pool would need to be drained due to algae. The agency also weighed whether to dye the pool water; in the past, the water has been dyed black to help reflect better.
Hearn has legal options that could unearth more embarrassing details on how his case was handled. The judge hasn鈥檛 officially dismissed Hearn鈥檚 charges as of Monday afternoon, and his lawyers are expected to file a response to Pirro鈥檚 request to dismiss the case this week.
鈥淣othing is off the table,鈥� said Michael R. Bromwich, an attorney representing Hearn.
Among his options: referring the prosecutors involved to a bar disciplinary authority; asking inspectors general to look at the conduct of the Justice Department and Interior Department; filing lawsuits; seeking more of the grand jury record documenting the prosecutors鈥� presentation of the indictment; and asking the judge to dismiss the case so it cannot be brought again. Pirro鈥檚 office has so far sought only to dismiss Hearn鈥檚 charge without prejudice, meaning prosecutors wouldn鈥檛 be barred from attempting to revive the case later.
This story has been updated with additional context and reporting.
The-CNN-Wire
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