Former President Donald Trump said Jeanine Pirro "choked" and "folded like an umbrella" regarding the Reflecting Pool vandalism case [1, 2].
The criticism marks a public rift between the former president and the former judge and TV host over the handling of a high-profile legal matter. The dispute centers on whether the case was abandoned due to legal failure or factual evidence.
Speaking from the Oval Office during a televised rant, Trump said Pirro made a mistake by not pursuing the case further [2]. He said, "She folded like an umbrella!" [2]. Trump said Pirro "choked on the Reflecting Pool case" [1].
The Justice Department dropped the vandalism charge after determining that the damage to the site did not result from intentional vandalism [3, 4]. Instead, the department found that the damage was the result of a flawed installation [3, 4].
This installation was part of a multi-million pound renovation of the Lincoln Memorial [4]. Despite the findings from the Justice Department, Trump said the dismissal was a personal and professional failure by Pirro [2].
Pirro has not issued a public response to the specific allegations made during the televised appearance. The incident highlights ongoing tensions regarding the intersection of political expectations and Department of Justice findings.
“"She folded like an umbrella!"”
This conflict underscores a disconnect between the Justice Department's technical findings—which attributed damage to construction errors—and the political narrative favored by Trump, who viewed the lack of a conviction as a lack of resolve.
