A preservation group suing the Department of the Interior over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool warned in a new filing that the agency is racing to destroy evidence just as newly surfaced documents undercut its own vandalism story.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation asked a federal judge on Tuesday for emergency permission to inspect and document the pool’s current condition before Interior crews perform more repair work that could wipe out physical evidence.
A National Park Service official previously swore under oath that the pool’s damaged lining showed signs of deliberate sabotage, including caulk allegedly cut with a sharp blade.
Reminder:
President Donald Trump took an unannounced trip to the Lincoln Memorial to see the Reflecting Pool after he had it coated in a color he calls “American flag blue.” He did more than just see it — the president was driven across the new coating before he got out of his SUV to make a statement. The new blue coating will hide the pool’s gray stone, a color Trump said was “never good.” The project cost nearly $2 million, he said.
Those SUVs are stuffed to the gills with armor and hardened glass, too. They weigh something like five times what a normal SUV would already weigh.
Up weighs between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds, but still rides on 4 reinforced tires, so probably more tire patch pressure than a tractor trailer cab driving across that pool.
