A CNN supercut aired Saturday laid bare the Trump administration's sustained campaign to promote unsubstantiated claims that "vandals" sabotaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. The segment came one day after the Department of Justice admitted that damage to the memorial was most likely caused by "a rushed and botched installation by AIC, the primary contractor." The Reflecting Pool, one of the most iconic landmarks on the National Mall and managed by the National Park Service under the Department of the Interior, had previously undergone a major renovation completed in 2012 that converted it from a dirt-bottomed basin to a concrete-lined pool with a recirculation system.

For months, President Trump and his team touted renovations at the Reflecting Pool, which the president claimed in April was "decaying." In May, the administration awarded a "no-bid" contract to renovate the pool, with officials making clear that Trump wanted the liner color "changed for the country's birthday party on July 4," the New York Times reported. The president described the chosen hue as "American flag blue."

At a small business summit in May, Trump praised the new liner's durability: "Very strong … if you had a knife, you can't even cut it, it's so strong, so powerful, it's like powerful rubber. It is beautiful. Sealed."

ABC News reported in June that "the cost to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ... ballooned to more than $14.65 million."

Following the restoration, however, algae and liner problems plagued the pool — issues that had originally motivated the 2012 overhaul. The president responded with a series of unsubstantiated claims that the memorial had been "damaged by deranged vandals" who cut increasingly large "slashes" into the liner using a "box cutter or knife." In mid-July, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the pool had been drained once again "to fix the scars and damage that was done by the vandals."

Olympian David Hearn was among those accused by the administration of sabotaging the Reflecting Pool. According to Fox News, Hearn was "indicted July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property" after "U.S. Park Police alleged Hearn grabbed and tugged at a loose section of the pool's coating on June 19, continuing after a National Park Service employee told him to stop." In an interview with the Times, Hearn "acknowledged immersing his hand and touching the peeling sealant during a pause in a bike ride, but ... said that is all he did." Hearn's lawyers called the charges "outrageous," adding that they "should be alarming to every American."

On CNN This Morning Saturday, the network compiled the administration's numerous false statements regarding the Reflecting Pool.

"Somebody went in with a knife and cut it. They cut it up good," Trump told reporters on June 23.

In a separate Oval Office interview, the president said: "I think 209,300 foot lit right through it, slit, right through it. Probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind. ... At the right time you'll see it. You'll see it. You'll see it in court."

At a June 22 press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed the damage on "deranged individuals, many of them longtime donors to the Democrat party, to Barack Obama."

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro forcefully declared at a July 2 press conference regarding Hearn's arrest: "He damaged this pool." When a reporter asked for evidence of the damage during that presser, Pirro responded, "Well, when I file a charge, I'll be happy to show you a picture. All right."

On Friday, Pirro moved to dismiss the charges against Hearn. In a court filing, the Department of Justice stated that new evidence "significantly [undermines] the evidentiary basis for the indictment" and attributed responsibility for the false allegation to the Department of the Interior (DOI). The admission marked a notable instance of friction between DOJ and DOI — two cabinet-level agencies under the same administration — over the handling of a high-profile case.

"Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment," Pirro wrote in her motion to dismiss. "DOI's failure to fully and accurately provide information to USAODC undermined the government's ability to abide by these responsibilities."