Trump pushes DOJ to open another case against ex-Olympian after raging over dropped Reflecting Pool charges: report

The White House is reportedly pressing federal prosecutors to open another case against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after President Donald Trump publicly raged against U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's decision to drop charges.

The Department of Justice is exploring whether to pursue additional charges against David Hearn, according to The Wall Street Journal, despite explicit admissions from administration officials shared with Pirro's office that the damage to the pool's newly applied lining was likely due to "botched installation."

Trump spent the weekend insisting that vandals damaged the pool, including posting court documents on Truth Social stating that a "highly credible witness" saw 67-year-old former Olympian canoeist David Hearn "violently" rip the pool's new blue lining. He said Pirro "should revisit her hastily made decision."

Last week, the judge overseeing the case against Hearn agreed to dismiss charges against him and will hold a hearing next month on whether the dismissal should be granted "with prejudice," which would prevent the Justice Department from charging him for the same alleged conduct.

"The Department of Justice follows the evidence when determining if crimes have been committed," a spokesperson told The Independent. "We always evaluate any case based on the facts and the law."

"The government is continuing to attack an innocent man," lawyers for Hearn said in a statement to The Independent on Monday following the president's latest attacks.

"Our first filing in the case on July 10 included photographic evidence from before Mr. Hearn touched the Reflecting Pool proving that he caused no damage," according to the statement from his legal team, which includes Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP.

Trump initially said a refurbishing project for the 2,030-foot pool could be done quickly for $1.5 million in time for White House-backed Fourth of July celebrations.

The administration has now spent at least $14.7 million, with all funds going to Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, Virginia, through a no-bid contract, according to federal spending records.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is pressing Pirro's office and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on whether prosecutors knowingly brought a "bogus indictment" against Hearn.

"Did President Trump pressure or influence either Department to engage in wrongful actions against an American citizen?" Raskin wrote in a letter to the agencies on Tuesday.

"At a minimum, it appears that members of the Trump administration were ready and willing to imprison an innocent American for a decade in a desperate effort to soothe an ex-landlord's wounded ego about a terrible paint job and wasteful contract," he said.