Jonathan Karl just published his fourth book attacking Donald Trump.
Now the president's U.S. Attorney is leaving the door open to charging him with a crime.
That career arc just took a turn Karl did not see coming.
Trump Named Karl Personally Before Pirro's Warning
This didn't start with Jeanine Pirro.
It started with Trump on Truth Social, where the president named Karl directly – calling him a "lightweight ABC reporter" who was "seen sticking his hand into the Pool and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface."
That post became a criminal referral.
https://twitter.com/RedWavePress/status/2068153725294662021?s=20
Pirro appeared on Fox News with Peter Doocy Sunday, and Doocy handed her Trump's tip like a case file.
"President Trump's got a crime stoppers tip for you," Doocy said, quoting the post. "Judge, is Jonathan Karl from ABC in trouble?"
Pirro didn't dismiss it.
"Well, you know, it depends," she said. "Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing – or attempting to vandalize – the Reflecting Pool will face the criminal justice system in D.C."
Citations have already been handed out, these cases will be prosecuted to the full extent, and if anyone places "more serious products" in the pool to generate algae, they will face more serious charges.
"Make no mistake," Pirro said. "If you damage, vandalize, or do anything to impact something like the Reflecting Pool, you can be prosecuted."
The door is wide open.
The Same Standard That Handcuffed an Olympian Applies to Karl
The media's defense of Karl is simple: he picked up a piece of material that was already detached. He wasn't vandalizing – he was reporting.
Here's the problem with that argument: so was David Hearn.
https://twitter.com/ConservBrief/status/2069024066086765024?s=20
Hearn is a three-time U.S. Olympian – a canoe racer who stopped at the pool during a 52-mile bike ride, reached into the water to feel a piece of the detached blue liner, and was handcuffed on the spot.
Charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property. Court date July 9th.
He didn't rip anything either.
So the standard is already established and being enforced consistently.
Reach into the Reflecting Pool and touch federal property – you're in the system.
Five people have been arrested. Five more received citations.
The U.S. Park Police is not making exceptions for curious bystanders.
Karl reached into the pool on camera during a nationally televised segment.
He has more documentation of his own presence there than Hearn does.
The idea that the standard somehow shouldn't apply to an ABC News correspondent is exactly the kind of media privilege conservatives have watched operate unchallenged for decades.
That era appears to be ending.
Four Books, One Reflecting Pool and Zero Accountability – Until Now
Karl published Front Row at the Trump Show in 2020.
Then Betrayal in 2021.
Then Tired of Winning in 2023.
Then Retribution in October 2025 – a book Trump called a fabrication just two months ago, blasting Karl as a "third rate news anchor" whose stories have "no relationship to the truth."
https://twitter.com/RedWavePress/status/2068731238827917611?s=20
Four books. Zero accountability.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia spent years as a weapon against conservatives – used against Trump allies, J6 defendants, and anyone who crossed the wrong people in Washington.
Pirro now runs that office. She's flipped the script.
The Trump administration sank over $16 million into restoring the Reflecting Pool – a landmark that hadn't been properly maintained in decades.
Trump personally inspected the damage over the weekend.
The pool will likely need to be drained again for repairs.
Pirro is doing her job and doing it without carve-outs for press credentials.
Jonathan Karl spent five years writing books about how Donald Trump was a threat to American institutions.
He might want to read up on destruction of government property statutes.
Sources:
- Chris Donaldson, "Pirro won't rule out charges against ABC News reporter over Reflecting Pool 'vandalism,'" BizPacReview, June 22, 2026.
- "Jeanine Pirro vows DC Reflecting Pool vandals will be 'prosecuted to the fullest extent,'" Fox News, June 21, 2026.
- Joe DePaolo, "Fox's Peter Doocy Asks Jeanine Pirro if ABC's Jon Karl is 'In Trouble' Over Reflecting Pool Video," Mediaite, June 21, 2026.
- "Trump says Reflecting Pool repairs will begin 'immediately' after vandalism arrests," ABC News, June 22, 2026.
- "Trump Slams 'Third Rate News Anchor' Jonathan Karl Over Book," The Wrap, April 4, 2026.