Federal prosecutors moved on Friday to dismiss vandalism charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, conceding in a court filing that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was the result of a rushed and botched sealant installation overseen by the Department of the Interior, not the criminal act they had once alleged.
The reversal is abrupt. Hearn, 67, had been arrested last month and charged with felony destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage. He faced a potential 10-year prison sentence if convicted. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, had publicly accused him of deliberately ripping part of the pool’s liner, telling reporters at a press conference that he “violently” tore up the sealant with his bare hands. President Donald Trump had blamed the damage on “sick, deranged” vandals and claimed, without providing evidence, that someone had used a blade to cut a gash hundreds of feet long along the pool bottom.
Hearn told the BBC he “didn’t destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part” of the paint in the pool. He said he had reached down to touch the water after a bike ride in the area. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month to a single count of destruction of property. On Friday, asked whether he planned legal action over the government’s missteps, he declined to comment.
Interior Department blamed for withholding evidence
In the filing submitted to D.C. Superior Court, Pirro’s office wrote that prosecutors had presented a grand jury with evidence that vandals caused the damage, relying on initial reports from the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Park Police. Only after the grand jury returned its indictment did the Interior Department provide additional documents showing the real cause. The filing identified the contractor as Atlantic Industrial Coatings and blamed the damage on “flawed installation” and “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”
Pirro blamed the Interior Department. She wrote that the agency “provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case” and that her office had to reach out “dozens and dozens of times” before information began trickling in. “Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” the filing said. Pirro also disclosed that when she inspected the drained pool on 17 July, alongside a defense expert, she “immediately noted extensive damage throughout” and requested all records regarding the lining installation. Those records showed “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 filing described problems that plagued the renovation almost immediately, including very rainy and windy weather, repeated failures of testing on the sealing of expansion joints, and delays in obtaining sealing product at the worksite. Pirro wrote that “the rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed.”
A no-bid contract and a troubled renovation
The Reflecting Pool underwent a multimillion-dollar resealing and painting project this spring. The monument had long been beset by structural failures and leaks, and Trump championed the project as part of his effort to beautify the capital ahead of the country’s 250th independence anniversary on 4 July. The project’s original budget was less than $2 million, CBS News reported, but the final cost ballooned to an estimated $14 million to $16 million. The contract was awarded on a no-bid basis to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a contractor Trump said he chose personally. The deal was not open to bidding from other companies, as is typical for government work.
Despite the makeover, the pool continued to be plagued by algae blooms that turned the water a murky green, and pieces of the blue sealant peeled off within days of application. The project drew sharp criticism. The BBC has contacted the contractor for comment.
Four days before the dismissal motion, Hearn’s attorneys wrote in a court filing that the government’s key grand-jury witness had testified that the property was already damaged before Hearn allegedly touched it. The defense lawyers had asked for disclosure of all information provided to the grand jury. Pirro’s decision to dismiss the case may foreclose the possibility of that information being revealed publicly, CNBC reported.
Hearn was not the only person charged. At least three others were charged with vandalism, according to court records, and five more received citations from police, an administration official told CBS News. It remains unclear whether all of those charges have now been dropped. Prosecutors told CNBC that “the motion speaks for itself.” The Interior Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CNBC and NPR. The White House also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hearn’s lawyers, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann, and Steve Levin, issued a statement saying the case “should have never been brought.” They said the dismissal “does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong.” The statement added: “The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”