With the criminal cases against the alleged Reflecting Pool vandals having collapsed, Donald Trump has an obvious political problem. The president has spent the summer telling Americans about nefarious scoundrels with box cutters who do not appear to exist in reality.

As a consequence, Trump has directed his ire at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host who’s currently the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., whose office didn’t want to bring baseless criminal cases against innocent defendants without evidence.

The presidential offensive began on Saturday, but two days later, at a White House event, Trump told reporters, “I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. … She folded like an umbrella, and people get away with things and it’s a disgrace.” He went on to say, “Frankly, I think she choked.”

When MS NOW’s Jake Traylor asked about Pirro’s future, the president snapped, “Don’t ever talk to me again,” but the underlying question still needed an answer. During a brief Q&A on an airport tarmac on Tuesday night, a reporter again asked whether he was considering removing the prosecutor from her post.

“I haven’t made a determination,” Trump replied, offering the first public confirmation that Pirro’s job is in jeopardy.

During the same gaggle, the president again emphasized his belief that Pirro was “totally wrong,” adding, “Everybody saw the vandalism. All you have to do is look at the tape.” (The existence of such a “tape” is unclear.)

He added, “I told her I was not happy.”

This comment was a reference to a Monday afternoon meeting at the White House between the president and the prosecutor, and while the discussion unfolded behind closed doors, The New York Times reported on behind-the-scenes details of Pirro’s efforts to save her job.

The article, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, pointed to what was effectively a two-pronged strategy. First, Pirro redirected blame for the fiasco to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, telling Trump that it was the South Dakotan and his department who screwed up the Reflecting Pool project and misled the president.

Second, the U.S. attorney brought boxes full of documents in the apparent hope of convincing Trump that the facts are on her side.

The latter tactic appeared pointless — if Trump could be swayed by evidence, he wouldn’t keep droning on about election conspiracy theories — but the former at least offered the president an alternative scapegoat.

The meeting apparently bought Pirro some time, though her fate clearly remains uncertain. Watch this space.

The post ‘I haven’t made a determination’: Trump hedges on Jeanine Pirro’s fate appeared first on MS NOW.

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From MS Now.