{"id":5445,"date":"2026-08-02T05:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T05:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5445"},"modified":"2026-08-02T05:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T05:05:22","slug":"man-accused-by-trump-admin-of-vandalizing-reflecting-pool-claps-back-after-case-dropped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5445","title":{"rendered":"Man accused by Trump admin of vandalizing Reflecting Pool claps back after case dropped"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The US Department of Justice on Friday moved to throw out its criminal case against David Hearn, the Olympian it accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, sparking demands for, at minimum, an apology from the DOJ.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump hypes up planned Iran attack \u2014 then cancels it citing last-minute deal<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,\u201d said his attorneys, Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group, and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP, in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong,\u201d they continued. \u201cThe government\u2019s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump in April announced plans to renovate the Reflecting Pool for the country\u2019s 250th anniversary. Two months later, despite the administration spending millions of dollars on resurfacing, the water turned green from algae. That led to a hydrogen peroxide treatment and a $1.7 million no-bid contract for a company whose owner is a Trump donor, after which multiple ducks were found dead.<\/p>\n

Hearn, one of several people accused of tampering with the pool, was arrested in June. Early last month, Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Columbia, revealed that her office had secured a felony indictment against him. The 67-year-old, who faced up to a decade in prison, pleaded not guilty and had a trial scheduled for September.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t vandalize anything,\u201d Hearn, an Olympic canoeist, said in an interview with The Washington Post, explaining that he had touched a piece of pool lining that was already peeling off. \u201cI didn\u2019t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its Friday the case, Pirro\u2019s office said that after the return of the indictment, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) provided information indicating that the damage \u201cwas the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings (AIC), and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,\u201d the document also states.<\/p>\n

MS NOW legal analyst Lisa Rubin highlighted Pirro\u2019s previous promise to \u201cprove beyond a reasonable doubt\u201d that Hearn caused the damage.<\/p>\n

Read more Scholar flags \u2018tip of the iceberg\u2019 of what could be \u2018biggest\u2019 Trump scandal \u2018in history\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

NBC News noted that \u201ca spokesperson for Pirro said the filing spoke for itself. Her office also moved to dismiss at least one of the other three misdemeanor cases that had been brought in connection with the Reflecting Pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Pirro\u2019s office and the DOJ under fire for this debacle. While welcoming the motion to dismiss, Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), took aim at DOI in a Saturday statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project has become a poster child for corruption and why competitive bidding and transparency in federal contracting matter,\u201d Whitehouse said. \u201cTransparency in contracting prevents waste, self-dealing, and exactly the kind of expensive, embarrassing failure this project has become. Decisions about the best way to repair public infrastructure should rest with engineers and career experts following open, competitive bidding, not with political officials chasing a photo-op deadline ordered by the president while steering money to favored contractors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of false charges and criminal prosecutions to deflect blame away from politically powerful leaders and their allies is an abuse of the justice system that cannot be tolerated,\u201d he added. \u201cThe Interior Department officials responsible for this failure\u2014the no-bid contract, the botched renovation, lying to the public and the rush to blame an innocent man\u2014owe the public a full accounting. PEER calls on Congress to investigate and demands that those responsible face real consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to make clear that he \u201c100%\u201d disagrees with Pirro, sparking speculation about whether he may fire her.<\/p>\n

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum then claimed that \u201cthe evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool,\u201d in a post on the platform X that New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel described as \u201crepeating the boss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearn\u2019s attorneys said that \u201cTrump and Burgum are attacking Pirro because she admitted what we established in our legal filings all along: Trump\u2019s botched renovation was responsible for the damage\u2014not Davey Hearn. However, Pirro\u2019s claim that she and her office were previously duped by Interior is nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting immediately after arraignment, our motions repeatedly proved that the administration was to blame for the Reflecting Pool failures, not Davey,\u201d they added. \u201cThis is far from over, as we consider all legal remedies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more GOP lawmaker jailed \u2018on suspicion\u2019 of false imprisonment and battery: report<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US Department of Justice on Friday moved to throw out its criminal case against David Hearn, the Olympian it accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, sparking demands for, at minimum, an apology from the DOJ.\u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s case against Davey Hea…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMan accused by Trump admin of vandalizing Reflecting Pool claps back after case dropped - Property Relocation USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5445\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man accused by Trump admin of vandalizing Reflecting Pool claps back after case dropped - Property Relocation USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The US Department of Justice on Friday moved to throw out its criminal case against David Hearn, the Olympian it accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, sparking demands for, at minimum, an apology from the DOJ.\u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s case against Davey Hea...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5445\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Property Relocation USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-02T05:05:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/?p=5445#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/?p=5445\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3532c0f2bf23909f000df694ed25b25b\"},\"headline\":\"Man accused by Trump admin of vandalizing Reflecting Pool claps back after case dropped\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-02T05:05:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/?p=5445\"},\"wordCount\":853,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/?p=5445#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8cb6d199a1d772634a0d144813c9a233.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/?p=5445#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/?p=5445\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertyrelocationusa.com\\\/?p=5445\",\"name\":\"Man accused by Trump admin of vandalizing Reflecting Pool claps back after case dropped - 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