Senate Democrats Seek Interior Probe Over Reflecting Pool Cover-up After DOJ Drops 3 Vandalism Cases
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 5
Senate Democrats Seek Interior Probe Over Reflecting Pool Cover-up After DOJ Drops 3 Vandalism Cases
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 5
Summary
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich asked the Interior Department’s inspector general to immediately investigate whether officials concealed evidence that contractor mistakes—not vandalism—damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Friday’s Justice Department reversal drove the request: prosecutors dropped cases against several defendants after saying Interior failed to share internal information pointing to construction errors.
The senators said investigators should determine how the vandalism claim emerged, whether officials misled President Donald Trump, and whether the narrative came from Interior or the White House.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Trump still publicly blame vandals, underscoring a clash between the department’s account and the Justice Department’s explanation as the inspector general weighs whether to open a probe.