Trump administration to dismiss Reflecting Pool charges against David Hearn
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a Trump appointee, acknowledges that the poolâs peeling sealant appears to be the result of âbotched installationâ. The administration of United
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a Trump appointee, acknowledges that the poolâs peeling sealant appears to be the result of âbotched installationâ. The administration of United States President Donald Trump has moved to drop a criminal charge against former Olympic athlete David Hearn, in a remarkable about-face. In a motion filed on Friday afternoon, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro acknowledged that the accusations levelled against Hearn â blaming him for vandalising the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool â did not appear to be substantiated. âThe damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism, as initially represented by [the Department of the Interior],â Pirro wrote. Earlier this month, the prosecutor had accused Hearn, an Olympic canoeist, of âforcefully and violentlyâ ripping the newly installed liner of the Reflecting Pool, part of a renovation project Trump had championed. She described his actions as âan affront to the dignity of our shared historyâ and warned that Hearn could face up to 10 years in prison for the destruction of government property. But in Fridayâs court filings, a different narrative emerged. Pirro repeatedly emphasised she did not receive the new information until after the criminal indictment against Hearn had been returned. She blamed, in part, the âbarebones police reportsâ her office had received. âIt was not until after the return of the indictment, that the DOI provided additional documents to the [US Attorneyâs Office for Washington, DC] indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor,â Pirro wrote. She added that the pressure to finish the Reflecting Pool renovation project before the Independence Day holiday â marking the 250th anniversary of the US â contributed to the renovationâs failure.
Trump had planned several events for the occasion. âThe rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed,â Pirro explained, citing delayed installation work, inclement weather and repeated testing failures. Reshaping Washington, DC The Reflecting Pool project is one of several changes to the landscape of Washington, DC, that Trump has pursued during his second term in office. In seeking to leave his mark on the US capital, the Republican leader has torn down the East Wing of the White House, gilded statues with a fresh coat of gold leaf, and proposed to build a large triumphal arch on the road to the Arlington Cemetery. Just this week, he unveiled a $22.5bn project to revamp the Dulles international airport, the main air terminal for the capital region. Several of his public works projects have been challenged in court, including an attempt to affix his name to the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Reflecting Pool renovation was among Trumpâs most controversial. The 618-metre (2,028-foot) pool has served as the backdrop for many iconic moments in US history, including the 1963 March on Washington, when civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr delivered his âI Have a Dreamâ speech. It sits between the Washington Monument, a large obelisk, and the Lincoln Memorial, two popular tourist sites mere blocks from the White House. But the pool had long struggled with leaks along its granite edge and concrete bottom. In April, Trump abruptly announced he would address the problem by resurfacing the Reflecting Poolâs bottom with swimming pool coating in a shade of âAmerican Flag Blueâ. The project, he added, would be finished âlong before July 4â and at relatively little cost to the government.
The BriefWire