White House officials have initiated discussions with the Justice Department to determine if a new criminal case can be brought against David Hearn, a former Olympian previously accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool. These consultations follow a decision by federal prosecutors earlier this month to move for the dismissal of the original indictment against him, according to individuals familiar with the matter.
The initial charges, filed by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, accused Hearn of felony destruction of government property. Prosecutors alleged he caused over $1,000 in damage to a newly installed sealant at the bottom of the pool, a renovation project championed by President Trump. However, the government later moved to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, citing evidence that the damage resulted from a “botched installation” by a contractor rather than intentional vandalism.
President Trump publicly criticized the dismissal on Truth Social, stating that while there “may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” He further expressed his disagreement with Pirro, writing, “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking?”
Following public criticism from the President and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Pirro was observed visiting the White House with evidence boxes. Sources indicated these materials contained documentation from the Interior Department that cleared Hearn and several others of criminal vandalism. Last week, a D.C. Superior Court judge formally dismissed the case but deferred a ruling on whether the dismissal should be with or without prejudice, a decision that could influence the possibility of reviving the felony charges.
Discussions between the White House and the Justice Department’s Criminal Division last week focused on whether the case could be refiled as a misdemeanor, which would bypass the need for a grand jury. Sources emphasized that these conversations were purely exploratory and no final decision has been reached. Following the initial move to drop Hearn’s charges, prosecutors also moved to dismiss misdemeanor cases against three other individuals accused of causing less than $1,000 in property damage to the site.
Michael Bromwich, counsel for Hearn, criticized the ongoing efforts to revive the case in a statement to. He described it as “truly difficult to understand the enormous effort apparently being spent on reviving a case that was dead on arrival.” Bromwich asserted that the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence and argued that the Justice Department should cease its pursuit of Hearn, stating, “At some point DOJ should simply cut its losses and pursue actual criminal activity rather than continue to harass Mr. Hearn.”
