Jeanine Pirro seeks to drop charges against Olympian David Hearn, admits reflecting pool damage was 'flawed installation'

Jeanine Pirro seeks to drop charges against Olympian David Hearn, admits reflecting pool damage was 'flawed installation'

WASHINGTON — DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro is moving to dismiss charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn for allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, revealing in a Friday court filing that the Interior Department never shared information about its "flawed installation by the contractor" beforehand.

Pirro's office submitted the motion to dismiss after Hearn had pleaded not guilty earlier this month to one felony count of destruction of property for the alleged June 19 incident.

"DOI's failure to fully and accurately provide information to USAODC undermined the government's ability to abide by these responsibilities," the filing stated.

Hearn did tug at the sealant at the bottom of the Reflecting Pool and was told to stop by authorities, the July 31 filing shows, but the lining had "[a]lmost immediately" begun peeling after the work was completed after the Virginia-based company got a no-bid contract for the renovations.

That was due to "overspraying and a failure of the coatings to bond" as part of a rushed job to finish before Independence Day festivities.

And the Department of Interior (DOI) "provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case," Pirro's motion also noted, claiming before the indictment was handed up that "nearly all of the damage to the Reflecting Pool was due to vandalism" — but adding details about the "botched" contracting work after charges were filed.

"[I]t was not until after the return of the indictment, that the DOI provided additional documents to the USAO-DC indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was 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," the court filing stated.

"It was not until after these documents were produced that USAO-DC first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI."

President Trump had claimed that others also received citations and six were arrested in connection with damage to the pool in June, which included a "350 foot gash, made by a very sharp knife or razors."

Hearn's attorneys Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin in a statement: "The government's approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology."

"The Trump administration's case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought," they also said. "Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong."

The DC prosecutors had to rely on "barebones police reports" about the incident from US Park Police, which was slow to respond but eventually produced the files along with "body-worn camera footage for roughly 10 individuals," according to Friday's court filing.

National Park Service employees had observed Hearn "violently" tug at an upturned end of the lining before being asked to stop on June 19, causing the ex-Olympian to remark they were "awfully sensitive about the pool."

DOI assessed that the yanking caused $1,000 worth of damage and that "nearly all of the damage to the Reflecting Pool was due to vandalism" in representations to Pirro, who visited the site on July 1.

The following day, her office convened a grand jury that handed up the indictment against Hearn, only to receive in mid-July "695 megabytes of additional documents" about the lengthy and error-ridden installation process.

"It was not until USAO-DC repeatedly reached out to DOI dozens and dozens of times that DOI slowly started trickling information to USAO-DC," the motion noted at one point.

AIC contracted with DOI for more than $14 million to paint the Reflecting Pool's 68,000-square-foot bottom, according to federal spending records, with the work beginning in early May.

But two days after work completed on June 9, a National Park Service engineer "was alerted to peeling of the Reflecting Pool lining," Pirro's office noted.

"I stated my concern that this 'overspray' along the perimeter of the pool could lead to a 1'-2' strip that is vulnerable to peeling," the engineer stated in the June 11 email. "The contractor would not confirm in field if this was or wasn't a risk."

That was still eight days before Hearn was arrested for allegedly tampering with the lining.

"Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt," the motion concluded.

Reps for DOI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.