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Pirro brought box of evidence to show Trump what caused Reflecting Pool damage

▶ Watch Video: Trump rebukes Jeanine Pirro for dropping Reflecting Pool charges

The top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital carted a box full of evidence to the White House on Monday, in a bid to prove to President Trump that the damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by shoddy construction and not by vandals, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, a staunch ally of the president, made the case in a sometimes heated private meeting in the Oval Office Monday, hours after Mr. Trump had publicly rebuked her for dropping criminal charges against Olympic canoeist David Hearn. 

She was later photographed leaving the White House carting a large white box and other bags, which sources said contained all of the evidence collected from the Interior Department that exculpated Hearn and several others from criminal vandalism.

A spokesperson for Pirro’s office declined comment.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro departs the White House
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro departs the White House, Aug. 3, 2026.

CBS News

Mr. Trump earlier in the day had accused Pirro of folding “like an umbrella,” after her office on Friday filed a motion dismissing the felony case against Hearn. 

In the motion, prosecutors blamed the Interior Department for holding back critical evidence that they claimed they did not see until after they had secured the indictment from the grand jury in D.C.’s Superior Court. They said new information they had received indicated that the damage was caused by a “botched installation” by a contractor, not vandalism, as the president and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claimed. On Saturday, Burgum said in a post on X, “The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool.”

The U.S. attorney’s office has also since moved to dismiss criminal charges against three others accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.

Pirro’s office has suffered a number of high-profile setbacks involving cases related to Mr. Trump’s enemies and topics of personal interest to him.

Earlier this year, a grand jury uniformly refused to indict six Democratic lawmakers for posting a video urging military members not to follow orders they believe are illegal. Historically, a grand jury refusing to return an indictment is highly unusual, let alone having a grand jury unanimously refuse to do so.

Then, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia quashed grand jury subpoenas issued by Pirro’s office to investigate former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the Fed itself in connection with a costly renovation and statements he made to Congress about that work.

In doing so, the judge said the subpoenas were merely a pretext to pressure Powell to lower interest rates. Pirro later dropped the investigation, but not before several of her deputies first made an unannounced visit to the Fed’s construction site and tried to gain access to the property before being turned away.

Powerful storms slam the Midwest for a sixth-straight day, striking already flood-ravaged Indiana and Ohio

By CNN
(CNN) — Drenching storms rolled over the flood-ravaged Midwest for a sixth day early Friday, bringing more rain to areas where severe flooding has already forced hundreds of people from their homes and left more than 300,000 without power.After parts of Indiana saw 1-in-1,000 year rainfall, officials conducted water rescues and ordered evacuations as catastrophic floodwaters made rivers swell, rushed into homes and left roads impassable. Gov. Mike Braun on Thursday declared a statewide disaster emergency and mobilized the Indiana National Guard.⛈️☔️In one of the impacted areas? Track the storms, find out your local risk and get more detailed timing from meteorologists in the CNN Weather app⛈️☔️Millions across the Midwest remain under flood watches early Friday for additional bouts of rain sweeping through the region. Saturated ground and swollen rivers will make it easier for even modest rainfall to cause new problems.Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday night warned residents in western Ohio to stay alert for “a dangerous situation” that could develop overnight after lingering storms this week forced about 375 people to evacuate. The catastrophic flooding comes after a deadly derecho — a rare, unusually long-lasting windstorm — tore through the Midwest earlier this week. The region will finally get a reprieve from the storms by Sunday.Here’s the latest:Authorities search for missing teen: In Delaware County, Indiana, authorities have been searching for an 18-year-old still missing after jumping into a river Wednesday night, the sheriff’s office told CNN.At least two dead: A 4-year-old boy died in southeastern Indiana on Tuesday after a tree fell on a house in Geneva Township, according to Cody Low, chief deputy for the Jennings County sheriff’s department. Another person was found dead Tuesday in Portage, Indiana, from an apparent explosion and house fire after the derecho moved through the area.Water rescues still underway: Authorities have been rescuing residents from high waters in several areas in Indiana, including Delaware, Madison, Wayne and Henry counties.Residents evacuate as rivers rise: At least two rivers have hit major flood stage in eastern Indiana. The White River in Anderson had a record crest over 24 feet Thursday night — the highest in more than 100 years. A level that high would likely bring water several feet deep in residential and commercial areas in the city’s north, according to the National Weather Service. Authorities are working to evacuate residents there and in nearby Muncie, Indiana. The Whitewater River at Brookville, Indiana has risen quickly to moderate flood stage in recent hours, prompting authorities downstream in Harrison, Ohio to issue an evacuation warning for some areas.Thousands lose power: More than 200,000 homes and businesses are without power in Indiana as of early Friday, according to PowerOutage.us. Over 300,000 customers remain in the dark across the Midwest and Ohio Valley for the third consecutive day. A utility serving northern Indiana experienced its most widespread outage ever due to this week’s storms and estimates power won’t be fully restored for more than a week.Kentucky flash flood emergency: The National Weather Service issued the highest level of flood warning Thursday evening for Knott County in eastern Kentucky, warning residents to immediately move to higher ground. Several water rescues were conducted in the northern part of the county late Thursday.Flooding pours into Indiana homes and businessesPhotos and videos out of Indiana show scenes of destruction as floodwaters rushed into homes and businesses, leaving them in shambles.Timothy Hicks, a father of six, told the Associated Press it was “a panic to get out of here” when floodwaters began pouring into their Cambridge City, Indiana, house on Wednesday.“I just started grabbing them, running them out to the car without even getting shoes, clothes or anything like that,” he said.Video of the home shows ruined bedrooms, a damaged bike and flooded yard. “It just crushes me. My kids’ house is gone,” Hicks added.Security camera photos show the devastation caused by flooding in Metamora, Indiana, where numerous businesses were damaged after severe weather hit on Wednesday.Bill Smith, owner of Village Smith and Village Smith Coffee Bar, told CNN that many residents are facing significant losses.Photos show floodwaters covering tables, chairs, and floors inside several businesses on Thursday.“We won’t know until we see how much more flooding may occur with the incoming rain,” Smith said. “There’s not much we can say about the degree of loss until we can access our buildings.”Smith added that they will get through this because Metamora is “a good and strong community.”Disaster emergencies declaredYorktown, in Indiana’s Delaware County, declared a local disaster emergency Thursday afternoon, with first responders working around the clock to assist with evacuations. Drone footage shared by the city showed houses, vehicles and roads submerged in muddy floodwaters.In the town of Muncie, water is deep enough in the streets that rescuers are using motorized boats and essential infrastructure is failing.“I’ve been with the department for 29 years, and I’ve never seen flooding like this,” the city’s Fire Chief Dan Burford told CNN Thursday.Sheriff’s deputies in Delaware County said they were still searching for missing 18-year-old Matthew Morey after responding to a report that four teens had jumped from a bridge into the Mississinewa River at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities had to temporarily pause the search due to the conditions, officials said.In nearby Anderson in Madison County, Indiana, the mayor declared a local disaster emergency and issued evacuation orders Thursday along the swelling White River and other waterways.Fire departments in Anderson’s Madison County “have been busy all day” with evacuations and “some water rescues,” and more than 300 animals are being evacuated from a flooded animal shelter, Sheriff John Beeman told CNN Thursday night.Renewed flood danger FridayIowa and northwestern Illinois face the greatest risk of flooding rain Friday, with more storms targeting communities already soaked this week. A Level 3 of 4 risk is in place, and significant flash flooding is possible.Storms will sweep from west to east Friday morning, with another, potentially more widespread round expected Friday night. Some already waterlogged communities could be hit repeatedly, causing rainfall to accumulate quickly.Exactly where the heaviest rain lands remains uncertain, but forecast models suggests more than 5 inches could fall in the hardest-hit areas, with isolated totals topping 8 inches. With the ground already saturated, it won’t take as much rain to cause flooding as it did earlier in the week.A broader Level 2 of 4 risk of flooding rain is in place through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia. Rainfall totals may be lower there, but intense downpours could quickly renew flooding in waterlogged communities, including parts of Indiana still recovering from catastrophic flooding.The flood threat should ease somewhat Saturday but won’t disappear. The main corridor for heavy rain will shift north and east, prompting a Level 2 of 4 risk of flooding from northern Illinois and Wisconsin through northern Indiana and Ohio and into parts of the central Appalachians. Another risk level upgrade is possible depending on which areas are hardest hit Friday.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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