The Justice Department moved to drop a criminal case against a former Olympian who stood accused of purposefully destroying part of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool floor.
The damage resulted from “flawed installation by the contractor,” the administration admitted in a Friday afternoon court filing — not vandalism, as President Donald Trump and top White House officials have insisted for weeks.
David Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist, was one of at least seven people to be arrested at the Reflecting Pool for alleged destruction of property and vandalism, according to the White House. He was arrested June 19 and pleaded not guilty to the vandalism charge after being indicted by a grand jury on July 2.
The government initially alleged the pool sustained “destruction of delaminating surface material” and that an undisclosed portion of its fresh caulk was cut “with a sharp knife or razor” just days after the renovations were completed.
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But on Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia held another agency responsible for the errors throughout the 20-page filing: The Department of the Interior and U.S. Park Police had presented the grand jury with evidence that vandals had damaged the pool, government lawyers wrote, but the DOI later provided new documents proving otherwise.
“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,” the attorney’s office wrote, partially blaming a “rush to complete the project” ahead of the country’s America 250 celebrations.
“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 filing reads. “Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment.”
The filings also note a National Park Service engineer had alerted officials about a “peeled area” that measured less than a square foot and could be attributed to “overspray” from the contractor who completed the project. This description did not match Trump’s characterizations of the damage, which stretched from 250 feet to 300 feet to 350 feet long, depending on when the president was discussing the issue.
Hearn told NBC News in June that he stopped by the Reflecting Pool after a bike ride on the day of his arrest “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating.” He said he only touched the paint, but did not pull at it or otherwise damage the surface of the pool.
“The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” his legal team told NOTUS in a statement after the DOJ moved to drop the case. “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. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”
Hearn was scheduled to next appear in court on Aug. 5.
Trump had also said chemicals were “illegally placed in the water,” which has turned green in parts because of what experts say is an algae bloom. Three ducks were found dead in the vicinity, but toxicology reports have yet to determine a cause.
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