Trump DOJ can’t go after ex-Olympian again for Reflecting Pool ‘vandalism,’ judge rules
Por Alex Woodward — – World RSS Feed
Trump DOJ can’t go after ex-Olympian again for Reflecting Pool ‘vandalism,’ judge rules
DC judge says Trump’s demands to re-charge David Hearn are ‘simply fanciful’ after Jeanine Pirro already tossed ‘meritless’ case
Alex Woodward in New York Thursday 01 October 2026 16:06 BST
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A judge in Washington, D.C. has thrown out a criminal case against a former Olympian accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — and blocked prosecutors from trying to charge him again.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had already agreed to drop felony charges against 67-year-old David Hearn after she admitted that the damage was likely caused by “botched” construction. But she wanted to leave open the possibility of prosecuting Hearn again after Donald Trump’s demands.
On Thursday, the judge called that idea “simply fanciful.”
Hearn “faces the unique possibility that the government will revive this case, one that it has already announced to be meritless — based on political pressure brought by the President of the United States upon his subordinate officers,” Judge Todd Edelman wrote Thursday.
“The Court respects the authority of the Office of the United States Attorney to decide which cases to prosecute and which to dismiss,” Edelman wrote. “However, in the exceptional circumstances posed by this case, the government has no right to retain the ability to compound the errors it has already made, or even to threaten to do so, at Mr. Hearn’s expense.”
open image in galleryThe dismissal of the case with prejudice ensures that the Department of Justice “cannot bring this case against him again,” Hearn’s lawyers said in a statement shared with The Independent.
“This decision is a victory for the rule of law and for an innocent American seeking justice,” attorneys Norm Eisen with the Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group and Steve Levin and Michael Bromwich of Steptoe LLP said in a joint statement.
“This case never should have been brought in the first place,” they added. “This was a miscarriage of justice, and what happened to Mr. Hearn is an outrage that should shock every American.”
The decision marks the likely end of a months-long legal battle after prosecutors accused Hearn of tearing out the recently applied “American flag blue” liner that started to flap to the surface shortly after it was installed earlier this year.
Weeks after she publicly accused Hearn of “forcefully and violently” ripping out the liner, Pirro’s office admitted that the sealant started to peel “almost immediately” after the work was completed.
Contractors left behind “widespread damage,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.
It was not until after the indictment was filed that the Department of Interior determined that the “damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism,” they wrote.
Trump, however, has demanded that Pirro re-open the case while accusing her of having “folded like an umbrella” and “choking.”
On Truth Social, Trump called Hearn’s attorney Norm Eisen a “Political Hack” and “TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG” as he pushed Pirro to “re-visit her hastily made decision” to drop the case.
Hearn — a champion canoeist who represented the U.S. at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics — argued that Trump’s comments suggest the administration is trying to charge him again as part of a politically motivated attack.
Edelman hauled lawyers to court last month to hear why prosecutors would want to keep the door open to re-charging Hearn despite admitting there isn’t any evidence to do so.
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jeanine pirroDonald TrumpDepartment Of JusticeLincoln Memorial
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