Trump leaves Pirro’s future unsettled as Blanche defends his authority

President Trump is still leaving the door open when it comes to the future of his top federal

prosecutor in Washington, even as the man hoping to become the next attorney general says

the president has every right to fire her. Questions around Jeanine Pirro continue after

her office dropped the felony case against former Olympian David Hearn and three other people

accused of damaging the new Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Prosecutors now say new evidence

shows the damage was caused by a botched installation, not vandalism. But Trump has

repeatedly rejected that conclusion, something he says he told Pirro to her face this week

Everybody saw the vandalism. All you have to do is look at the tape. If you look at the tape, plus we have a witness or two witnesses that saw the vandalism. So

certainly when there was vandalism, it was actually, in my opinion, it was major vandalism

and I told her I was not happy. Trump told reporters he has not decided

whether Pirro will keep her job. Wednesday, Todd Blanche was asked whether firing Pirro would send a message

to federal prosecutors who make charging decisions He didn weigh in on the case itself but he made one thing clear Hypothetically if the president chose to fire a United States attorney it turns out he allowed to do that because he the president of the United States And by the way if President

Trump wanted to fire anybody within his administration, he understands he has the

power to do that. The comments come as Blanche's own nomination to lead the Justice Department

faces a critical test in the Senate. Republicans can afford to lose just one more vote after

Senator Susan Collins announced her opposition. That leaves Louisiana's Bill Cassidy and Alaska's

Lisa Murkowski as two of the last undeclared Republicans ahead of a confirmation vote

expected as early as today. Ever wonder what we learned that doesn't make it into a two-minute

story? That's what Offscript is all about. Longer conversations, extra reporting. And then to make

things more complicated, environmental factors often interact with genetics. And the context

behind the headlines from the people who know the stories best. President Trump chose to go to

Michigan and make his presence felt and make himself part of the conversation there. Unbiased

updates off script Thursdays at Straight Arrow