The justice department has moved to dismiss a criminal case charging former Olympian David Hearn with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial‘ reflecting pool, instead blaming damage to the pool liner as “the result of flawed installation by the contractor”.
Government lawyers said in a 20-page court filing in DC superior court on Friday evening that they had received information about a “rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026”.
Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said that her office had received documents from the Department of the Interior only “after the return of the indictment” showing that damage to the pool occurred prior to Hearn visiting the reflecting pool and put his hand in the water on 19 June. Hearn had denied administration claims of pool sabotage and the charge that followed.
The documents “indicated a rushed and flawed installation process, with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process, and extensive peeling of the lining throughout the Reflecting Pool,” the motion said.
“It was not until after these documents were produced,” Pirro’s office added, that her office “first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI”.
Attorneys for Hearn said the government “owes Mr Hearn an apology”.
“The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” attorneys Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin said on social media. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim.”
Hearn told the Associated Press that he had been detained by the national guard and US park police for five hours after stopping by during a bike ride. He said he briefly touched a chunk attached to the side.
Hearn, 67, was one of seven people facing charges in what Donald Trump had claimed were efforts to sabotage the $15m renovation project.
Hearn was the only person known to be facing a felony charge, rather than a misdemeanor. Hearn pleaded not guilty earlier in July to one felony count of property destruction – a charge that could have resulted in a 10-year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine.
His trial had been scheduled to start on 28 September in Washington DC superior court.
Last week, a witness in the case testified that the area of the pool liner had already been damaged and would have required repairs regardless of Hearn’s alleged actions.
Lawyers for Hearn called on prosecutors to disclose the legal instructions they gave to grand jurors about the elements of the criminal charge handed up against him.
“The grand jury transcripts disclosed to the defense thus far contain other irregularities that reflect a misleading presentation to the grand jury and a need for review of the entire grand jury record in this matter,” Hearn’s attorneys wrote.
A National Park Service (NPS) official testified that the pool had already been damaged before Hearn allegedly touched it, couldn’t quantify any damage attributable to the accused and said the same repairs would have been required regardless of his alleged conduct, defense attorneys contended.
“The witness’s testimony established that the pool had substantial preexisting damage requiring repair before any alleged conduct by Mr Hearn,” his lawyers wrote. “According to the witness, the pool was leaking more than one million gallons of water per week; its expansion joints had exceeded their service life; and the liner already contained a rip.”
Hearn had previously told NBC News that “the condition of the reflecting pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there”.
Efforts to fix the leaky pool, which is prone to algae blooms, before America 250 celebrations had been dogged by problems: the liner started separating, and the pool once again turned green after specialist aeration machines were turned off before a UFC fight on the White House lawn.
