President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice dropped charges against the three remaining defendants accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — after the president blew up at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dismissing similar charges against Olympian David Hearn.
The DOJ dismissed the felony charges against Hearn, a 67-year-old former slalom canoeist, on Friday, saying that the bright green algae plaguing the pool — as well as the pool’s peeling paint— was “the result of flawed installation by the contractor.”
The move drew ire from Trump, who on Monday told reporters, “I was really disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.”
In addition to Hearn, federal prosecutors also dropped misdemeanor charges against three others accused of similar damage to the pool: Justin Carreno, Cameron Thiers and Sophie Dennison-Gibby, according to court records.
They were each accused of destruction of property with a value of less than $1,000.
Prosecutors filed the paperwork to drop all of the charges Friday, court records showed.
Meanwhile, Hearn, a two-time whitewater racing world champion, was in the middle of a 52-mile bike ride June 19 when he stopped to visit the pool.
“I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything,” he told The Washington Post in June.
Hearn denied vandalizing the monument, which was covered in algae blooms and peeling blue paint even after the Trump administration spent over $14 million on refurbishing the monument.
Friday’s court filing states that the blue sealant applied to the bottom of the pool started to peel “almost immediately” after the work was completed last month.
Attorneys for Hearn said Friday that the case “should never have been brought” and that the government owes Hearn an apology.
Pirro’s decision to drop the charges infuriated Trump, who said she “choked” and “made a mistake,” while continuing to insist that vandals damaged the monument.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum backed Trump, writing on X Saturday that the “evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool.”
"Some of these acts were even caught on camera. We also provided the U.S. Attorney's office expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals and provided every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested time line detailing each area of damage at the pool," Burgum claimed, without providing evidence.
The move brought some relief to the three defendants facing misdemeanor charges. Allen Dale, an attorney representing Thiers, told CBS News his client was “happy now that the case has been dismissed,” noting the situation had been a “nightmare.”
Jamison Koehler, an attorney representing Dennison-Gibbey, said in a statement that his client “was arrested for a crime any rational person knows she did not commit.”
Meanwhile, David Benowitz, who represents Carreno, said his client was a government contractor who was fired after his arrest. Losing his job forced Carreno to move from his home due to being unable to afford rent, his lawyer said.
“We were all at the pool, there’s no slashes,” Benowitz told CBS, adding that the government “literally fabricated a crime.” He said his client is considering all legal options against the government after the dismissal.
“This was the epitome of the politicization of the criminal justice system,” Benowitz said. “It’s just the sort of gut-wrenching reality of it. The guy goes down to the Reflecting Pool and walks out with a misdemeanor and is fired from his job.”
The Reflecting Pool has since been drained and crews have again started repairs. The White House has not said how long these repairs are expected to take or how much they will cost. Trump has not publicly commented on the DOJ dropping the cases against the three other defendants.
Meanwhile, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, a longtime target of Trump’s wrath, seemingly got her payback Monday, sharing a video montage of Trump officials touting the vandalism claims—noting that Pirro’s filing pits her against Trump.
“What we do know is not only does her filing pit her against the president, as you heard very clearly today,” Collins said, referencing Trump’s comments Monday about Pirro. “But also against the public comments made by Karoline Leavitt, Doug Burgum, and yes, Jeanine Pirro.”
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