White House officials have asked the Justice Department to consider a new criminal case against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
President Donald Trump has publicly criticized U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s decision to drop the original case against former canoeist David Hearn, and sources familiar with the discussions told the Wall Street Journal that unspecified White House officials have reached out to discuss another attempt at prosecution.
“Justice Department officials are exploring whether another type of case — likely based on misdemeanor allegations — is even possible,” the Journal reported. “The discussions have been informal and preliminary, the people said.”
A new case would be unusual because Pirro told a judge in highly specific detail that the felony indictment against Hearn had been ill-informed, arguing that a botched renovation — not vandalism — caused the pool’s damage. Complicating matters, the judge overseeing the dismissed case is set to hold a hearing next month on whether the dismissal should be “with prejudice,” which would bar DOJ from charging Hearn again over the same conduct.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Pirro since the case was dropped, posting on social media that she “should revisit her hastily made decision,” sharing a photo he described as showing vandalism, and claiming a “highly credible witness” saw Hearn tugging at the pool’s coating. Hearn has said he simply touched a piece of coating that had already come loose during a June bike ride.
A Justice Department spokeswoman said the agency “follows the evidence when determining if crimes have been committed.”
Hearn’s attorney Norm Eisen said a new prosecution “would mark a shocking first [by] bringing back from the dead a case that the DOJ lost by its own admission that it lacked the evidence to convict. This would add another bizarre turn to a sad chapter in the DOJ’s history — and further harass an innocent man.”
The dispute comes days after Todd Blanche, previously Trump’s personal defense attorney, was confirmed as attorney general on a narrow 50-49 Senate vote, following concerns he would be too deferential to the president’s wishes. Blanche has said it is appropriate for Trump to weigh in on DOJ investigations, a break from past administrations’ norms.
The new discussions over Hearn’s case have not yet reached Blanche and remain within the department’s criminal division, sources told the Journal.
The reflecting pool controversy is one of several disputes surrounding Trump-driven Washington renovation projects, including a $400 million White House ballroom whose construction a federal appeals court recently ordered halted.