Justice Department drops more Reflecting Pool vandalism cases amid misconduct claims

Jeanine Pirro’s office dropped charges against three more people accused of vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, extending a retreat from a case that has turned into a public test of prosecutorial consistency. The Justice Department now says the damage came from a flawed installation, not from vandalism, and government lawyers said the Interior Department had not been forthcoming.

The filings sharpen a clash over how the case was handled from the start. Prosecutors said it was difficult to attribute the widespread damage to vandalism and wrote that if the Interior Department had shared the relevant information, the government would not have sought the indictment. That explanation raises the question of whether the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office is correcting an overreach or unwinding a politically charged prosecution that should never have been filed.

The original criminal case targeted former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was accused of pulling up a piece of the pool’s lining after a $14 million renovation tied to the America 250 celebration. Prosecutors had said Hearn faced up to 10 years in prison. Reports said the work was handled under a no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, and the Reflecting Pool remained drained during the dispute after the renovations and Independence Day celebrations in Washington, D.C.

The Justice Department’s revised account is explicit: the damage “was the result of flawed installation by the contractor.” In another filing, government lawyers said “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” That language undercuts the theory behind the early charges and suggests the office is now conceding that the evidence never supported the sweeping response.

Hearn’s lawyers said the dismissal did not erase an abuse of government power and that the administration owed him an apology. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, publicly criticized Pirro’s decision, saying she had “choked” and “folded like an umbrella,” while continuing to insist vandals were responsible. The new dismissals add to the fallout around a prominent national landmark, a contested renovation, and a prosecution that is now raising questions about judgment inside the Justice Department itself.