Stephen Miller’s wife has unexpectedly grilled Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about the alleged vandalism of Trump’s cursed Reflecting Pool.
Trump’s $14 million makeover of the Washington monument saw him insist the pool had an “American flag” blue bottom. However, the pool soon became slimy and green, and ducks were found dead nearby after chemicals were used to kill off the persistent algae.
Last month, the president claimed “vandals and “radical Left SCUM” had sliced a “350-foot gash” in the lining of the pool. Evidence of the events has been scarce, except for a June 19 video released by the United States Park Police showing a person of interest appearing to splash around in the water before reaching in and grabbing what appears to be a flap of Trump’s paint.
During an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of The Katie Miller Podcast, Burgum was asked by Stephen Miller’s wife directly about Trump’s claims of vandalism.
“I’m bit of a conspiracy theorist, so, I’m going to ask this question,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of cameras on the pool. There’s a lot of National Guard. How did somebody cut it and us not know who cut it?”
“Uh, it was... we had very few or no cameras at the beginning,” he said, stumbling over the answer.
“Because we have cameras all over our monuments. Uh, the Reflecting Pool is part of the Lincoln Memorial... but there had never been vandalism on this, uh, you know, helpless harmless Reflecting Pool... until he decided to beautify it, and then others decided it was a point of attack.”
Burgum claimed they have “mobile camera stations and towers” that captured some of the “secondary activity” on film. Miller did not ask him any questions about what was caught on camera.
He then admitted, “We did have some vandalism starting as early as June 9th which we didn’t advertise because we didn’t want to have copycats. We started putting up cameras... we’ve got better camera coverage today.”
Stationary and live-streamed cameras are installed in the area, including the publicly accessible EarthCam, which provides live coverage from Washington, D.C.
Last month, Burgum told Fox News seven people had been arrested in connection with vandalism at the Reflecting Pool, and that there have been 18 police reports and other citations linked to vandalism at the monument.
U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn was indicted last week on a single count of destruction of property after being accused of causing more than $1,000 worth of damage to Trump’s Reflecting Pool on June 19.
The Attorney for District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, claimed National Park Service employees saw Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool with both hands.
Hearn’s legal team said their client was innocent, stating, “These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American. This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures.”
The Olympian previously told NBC News that he was arrested and detained for five hours after touching a piece of detached coating in the pool.
He admitted he had stopped at the pool during a bike ride to “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating.” However, he said he did not remove, tear or destroy any of the coating.
“The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there,” Hearn said.
On Miller’s podcast, Burgum also provided an update on when the pool will be drained and reopened, saying the process had been delayed after Trump’s July 4 fireworks.
The Republican said the area where the fireworks were launched from “is directly next to the Reflecting Pool. So you do end up with some fireworks debris.”
He added they plan to “drain the water, clean up the fireworks stuff, repair the, uh, the vandalism uh, that was done, fill it back up again.”
Claiming the pool was “99.999 percent” percent, Burgum added, “even with the vandalism damage that was done, these 350 ft worth of gashes with box cutters, that’s minor. This pool is 2,000 ft long.”
Burgum’s softball interview with Miller was a stark contrast from his appearance on State of the Union on Sunday, where he was questioned about the return of algae and imminent repairs despite Trump’s “fantastic” $16 million renovation.
The Trump apologist told host Dana Bash there was no algae or peeling paint, and that any issues stemmed from vandals.
“There was vandalism. There was boxcutters. There have been seven arrests. There was people literally trying to destroy part of a monument,” Burgum said.
“The Reflecting Pool is not just a pool on the Mall,” he said. “It is part of the Lincoln Memorial. And if anybody says that they‘re going to go and vandalize that, it‘s no different than if someone was throwing paint.”
Bash asked him, “You’re 100 percent sure that what happened with the liner was vandalism? You can prove it?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Absolutely. We can. And we—as we drain it and we’ve got all the photographs we can see...“
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
