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” and permanently tossed the case.
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,” DC Superior Court 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.”
The 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.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, continues to funnel millions of taxpayer dollars into renovating the Reflecting Pool, bringing total costs for the project to nearly $20 million.
In July, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Trump administration would not seek any new contracts after costs exploded to more than $17 million.
But federal spending records show that the National Park Service awarded a nearly $2.7 million contract last month to American Ag Energy Inc., for the maintenance, repair and rebuilding of water purification and sewage treatment equipment.
The president initially said a refurbishing project for the iconic 2,030-foot pool could be done quickly for $1.5 million in time for White House-backed Fourth of July celebrations in the nation’s capital.
But those costs quickly surged to nearly $7 million after an initial no-bid contract was handed to a Virginia-based firm. That company, Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, was awarded another $6.2 million in May. On June 3, the company received another $1 million, followed by more than $461,000 on June 15.
The shallow pool, which the president repeatedly promotes as “bigger than skyscrapers,” was refurbished with a shade of dark blue and outfitted with “advanced nanobubbler technology” to tackle algae blooms that have long plagued the landmark.
But shortly after workers refilled the pool, the algae returned, and the recently applied sealant in the Trump-requested blue hue started to peel and float to the surface.
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