The DOJ just admitted the $14 million redo of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was “hasty and botched” and dropped the criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn. That’s a major flip — Jeanine Pirro’s office saying the damage looked like installation failures, not vandalism — and it’s super awkward for the administration after weeks of blaming “vandals.” At least one other misdemeanor charge tied to the pool was also dropped Friday.
Prosecutors say the Interior Department didn’t give them the full picture at first; an NPS engineer flagged peeling around the pool on June 11 (before Hearn’s June 19 visit), and the full extent wasn’t visible until the pool was drained again on July 17. The filing points to a rushed, flawed liner installation by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings tied to last-minute work for America 250/Independence Day events, and says DOI’s initial reports led the US Attorney’s Office to wrongly pursue an indictment.
Trump had loudly blamed “sick, deranged” vandals on Truth Social and demanded big penalties, but the new filing undercuts that narrative. Hearn was arrested and indicted, pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers call the case an abuse of power — now they want an apology. Prosecutors explicitly blamed other federal agencies for providing incomplete info, calling the whole situation an embarrassing misstep.