House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) made clear Thursday that the alleged vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a subject President Donald Trump has fixated on for days, is nowhere on his list of priorities.
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Asked whether his committee would hold hearings into the “reflecting pool vandals,” Comer said no. “We’re going after billions of dollars in fraud,” he said, explaining that the panel is focused on Medicare and Medicaid fraud and the Epstein investigation. “There’s only so many hearings you can have.”
Pressed on whether the vandals even exist, Comer delivered a blunt response: “I would assume. I spent zero amount of minutes thinking about the reflecting pool, to be honest with you.”
The shrug stands in contrast to Trump, who has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the pool was deliberately sabotaged. The president has alleged that someone cut a gash of up to 350 feet into the lining with a knife and said multiple people have been arrested.
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Independent experts have cast doubt on the account.
Aquatic ecologists told NPR the pool’s green tint came from a natural, non-toxic algae bloom, and the White House has provided no evidence of vandalism. The only widely reported arrest is a 67-year-old former Olympian charged with a misdemeanor after touching a loose piece of paint, which he denies damaging.
Comer is not the only Republican to keep his distance from the president’s framing.
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