As Jeanine Pirro and DOJ drop Reflecting Pool criminal case against David Hearn, Trump objects and that sets off an intramural feud within the regime

(The Hodgetwins's post, Facebook)

Even one of Donald Trump's staunchest allies cannot figure out what the the president is doing by objecting to the Department of Justice's decision to drop the destruction of property criminal case against former U.S. Olympic canoeist David "Davy" Hearn. U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) ultimately calls the whole episode involving the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool a "a multiple vehicle pile-up." I am assuming, in Kennedyspeak, that is something akin to a "dumpster fire." 

If Trump's actions have that kind of effect on a Republican from a Deep South state, imagine what they do to normal people.

That issue is at the heart of a Trump-generated controversy that to reasonable, sane, non-cultists (and by that, I mean "Democrats') was no controversy at all. Raw Story provides insight on how Trump botched a situation that most any relatively normal president would have handled by simply staying out of it. Now, he might have an ongoing drama on his hands, sort of a mini version of the Iran war. As we noted in a post last week, Trump's determination to blame "VANDALS!" for damage to the Reflecting Pool comes with a whole host of legal issues that might not go away soon.

Under the headline "GOP senator thrashes Trump's latest raging 'lie' on NBC News: 'Multiple vehicle pile-up'," Raw Story's Kathleen Culliton tries to make sense of a typical chaos-filled Trumpian moment. She writes:

A Republican Senator called out President Donald Trump for what one independent journalist dubbed "blatant reflecting pool lies."

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) appeared on "Meet the Press" Sunday to discuss U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's sudden decision to drop vandalism charges in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool case she promised would be "open and shut."

"The whole thing is a multiple vehicle pile-up," said Kennedy. "The president says it was caused by vandals. I don't know whether he really believes that or if it's part of his political messaging."

That sounds like a polite way of saying, "Trump probably is lying again. I've voted with him on many issues over the years, but I've developed a pretty strong radar for detecting his lies. And I must say that I'm finding them quite tiresome." Culliton writes:

That pile-up involves the Justice Department, the White House, and the Department of the Interior, all of whom spent the past two days hurling accusations and insults at one another.

Pirro kicked off the dispute by blaming the Interior Department for misleading her prosecutors about when the pool lining began to peel.

In her 20-page court filing Friday, she said there was no evidence that a 67-year-old Olympian canoeist had vandalized the pool — but there was evidence the damage was caused by "flawed installation by the contractor."

The contract, of course, was awarded by Trump himself, via a no-bid process, to a contractor who just happened to be a longtime Trump donor -- surprise! surprise! Naturally, our thin-skinned president took offense at Pirro's assessment of a problem that was caused largely by his own contracting shenanigans. Was Trump about to accept the blame? Hah, surely you're not serious. (And sorry for calling you Shirley.) Here's more from Raw Story:

Trump then took to Truth Social to condemn Pirro, asserting he didn't know "what she was thinking" and that vandalism was to blame.

"I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro," Trump raged on X. "There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!"

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum backed Trump up and defended his department, writing a scathing rebuke on X.

"Vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool," Burgum wrote. "We won't back down to deranged people who want to destroy, deface, or degrade our monuments."

Kennedy on Sunday expressed regret that Trump had opened his (figurative) mouth at all.

"He exists loudly, and he grows anxious when he has an unexpressed thought," Kennedy said. 

The Louisiana senator then applauded Pirro for withdrawing her case.

"You can't lie to a federal judge," he said. "She was smart to pull it back."