Trump Buddy Hired to Clean Up Reflecting Pool Accused of Voter Fraud
WASHINGTON--The Trump administration has turned to another contractor with a controversial legal history as federal officials attempt to repair the damage left behind by the troubled renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The iconic Washington landmark has remained closed for months after a roughly $16 million renovation championed by President Donald Trump produced a series of highly publicized problems, including peeling blue waterproofing material and a massive algae outbreak that transformed the pool’s water into a murky, slime-covered green.
Now, the Department of the Interior has awarded a new $2.7 million contract to Massachusetts-based American Ag Energy to address the pool’s sewage and water-purification systems, according to the federal government’s official contract records. The company’s chief executive, Richard Rosen, is currently embroiled in a legal case involving allegations of election fraud.
The new contract adds another unusual chapter to the increasingly contentious saga surrounding the Reflecting Pool, where the administration has faced scrutiny over its decision to move quickly with the renovation, its selection of contractors and its response to the problems that emerged afterward.
American Ag Energy has been hired to repair and maintain the pool’s sewage and purification systems, according to the contract description. CNN reported that the initial one-year agreement could potentially be extended for another five years, bringing the total value of the contract to as much as $8.8 million.
Rosen was convicted last year of voter fraud after being accused of casting ballots in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire during the 2016 election. However, the conviction was subsequently overturned by the state’s Supreme Court, which ordered the case returned to Grafton County Superior Court after determining that the trial judge had made improper evidentiary rulings.
Rosen told CNN that he is now involved in mediation with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office concerning the case.
He also said his company became involved in the Reflecting Pool project after one of its directors alerted him to the algae problem. Rosen said he subsequently read additional reporting about the deteriorating condition of the landmark and concluded that his company could provide a solution.
“I realized that I actually knew how to solve this problem,” Rosen told CNN. “They want me to solve it the right way, OK, and they’re doing a very good job, trying to do the right thing, and I will be very helpful to them.”
The latest contract comes after an earlier administration-backed effort to overhaul the century-old pool went dramatically off course.
Trump initially said the project would cost somewhere between $2 million and $3 million. He also repeatedly promoted the makeover, including plans to give the pool what he described as an “American-flag blue” appearance. The administration had hoped to have the work completed in time for the July 4 celebration marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Officials cited the need to complete the project quickly and bypassed the federal government’s customary competitive-bidding process. Instead, the National Park Service awarded contracts without the standard competitive process.
One of those contracts, valued at approximately $1.7 million, went to Ohio-based Greenwater Services, according to The New York Times. Another contract, worth roughly $14.7 million, went to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings to apply blue waterproofing material across the pool’s concrete floor.
Greenwater Services is owned by J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust, which is associated with John J. Cafaro, a Trump donor who owns a Palm Beach mansion near Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Cafaro has a criminal history that has drawn renewed scrutiny because of his involvement in the Reflecting Pool project. Trump has previously referred to Cafaro as a “fantastic man.”
In 2002, Cafaro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe former Democratic Rep. Jim Traficant of Ohio. Two years later, in 2004, he admitted to providing an undisclosed $10,000 “loan” to his daughter Capri Cafaro’s unsuccessful congressional campaign in violation of federal campaign-finance limits. The loan was never repaid.
The Reflecting Pool controversy intensified after visible problems emerged at the site. Rather than accepting responsibility for the deterioration, Trump blamed vandals for at least some of the damage and ordered a heightened law-enforcement response around the landmark.
That crackdown resulted in the arrest of former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was charged with felony destruction of property after stopping at the Reflecting Pool during a bicycle ride and placing his hand in the water.
The felony charge carried a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Hearn was ultimately cleared of the allegations after prosecutors dropped the charges against him and three other people accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. The decision came after government witnesses acknowledged that the landmark had already sustained damage and would have required thousands of dollars in repairs regardless of the alleged incidents.
Despite the dropped cases and testimony indicating that the pool already had significant problems, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum continued to defend the administration’s vandalism claims.
As recently as this week, Burgum maintained that vandalism had occurred at the site.
“There was vandalism in spite of what everybody says,” Burgum said.
The administration now faces the task of restoring a landmark that was supposed to serve as a highly visible symbol of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations but instead became the focus of mounting questions over contracting decisions, project costs, construction quality and the government's response to the resulting failures.
With American Ag Energy now brought in to address the pool’s purification and sewage systems, the administration is effectively relying on yet another contractor to help clean up the consequences of a renovation that has already cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
The latest agreement could ultimately push the federal government’s additional spending on the project substantially higher if all available extensions are exercised, adding another layer to an already expensive and politically charged restoration effort.