Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused President Donald Trump of turning two troubled national projects into examples of “corruption,” linking the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation and the planning of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations to no-bid contracts and politically connected spending.
Clinton Links Pool Mess To Corruption Claims
“Why can’t Trump clean a pool, or throw a real 250th party? It’s not (just) incompetence. It’s also corruption,” Clinton wrote Monday in a post on X.
Clinton attached several images to the post, including one highlighting a report from watchdog groups Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project. The groups said roughly 80% of federal money allocated for the 250th anniversary celebrations has gone to Trump-aligned entities under the “Freedom 250” banner.
The report said the Trump administration directed nearly $126 million in federal awards toward semiquincentennial celebrations, including about $103 million for Freedom 250 events and networks. Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project described that $103 million as about 80% of the total federal awards.
Pool Contract Trouble Draws Renewed Scrutiny
Clinton also shared an image of a Wall Street Journal headline published on Monday. The report quoted Chas Antinone Jr., president of Greenwater Services, who said his water-treatment company had “nothing to hide” as it faced scrutiny over a $1.7 million no-bid contract to deploy a purification system at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The startup has faced criticism after the pool quickly developed bright green algae blooms and parts of its newly installed “American flag blue” liner began peeling.
Benzinga reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back at the time of writing.
The Trump administration awarded a nearly $15 million no-bid contract to vendors with no prior federal contracts and ties to the president. The pool soon filled with algae and peeling paint.
Trump has blamed the failure on vandalism, claiming a 350-foot “scar” was cut into the liner with a box knife. The National Park Service later said the liner had been cut with a sharp object.
Democrats Cast Projects As Political Favoritism
Clinton’s post also targeted planning for the nation’s 250th birthday, which critics have described as lackluster and disorganized after cancellations and shifting plans.
Clinton and Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), have framed the pool and anniversary disputes as signs of unchecked spending and political favoritism, not simple mismanagement. Blumenthal told Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting Park Service Director Jessica Bowron last week in a letter that Trump-backed National Park Service projects in Washington showed “blatant corruption, a shocking lack of transparency, disregard for legal requirements and apparent incompetence.” Blumenthal’s office published the letter on June 10.
The criticism adds to a broader Democratic attack line. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) earlier called the pool controversy a “reflecting pool debacle”, while Trump has defended the project as an effort to restore a landmark before July Fourth.
Photo Courtesy: Evan El-Amin on Shutterstock.com
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