President Donald Trump’s administration is facing fresh scrutiny over what critics describe as a mishandled renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a controversy now tangled in legal questions and disputed claims of vandalism.
Jeanine Pirro, Trump’s U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. and a former Fox News host, initially brought criminal charges against David Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympian accused of damaging the landmark pool. Those charges have since been dropped.
Democrats are now examining whether the Justice Department moved forward with what they call a “bogus” indictment despite knowing the case was flawed. They are also probing whether Trump pressured Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “retaliate” against Hearn.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is seeking communications tied to the damage discovered in the Reflecting Pool’s lining.
The inquiry follows Pirro’s decision late last month to ask that felony vandalism charges against Hearn be dismissed, a move that reportedly angered Trump.
In court filings, prosecutors pointed to insufficient evidence against Hearn and cited “newly released documents” from the Interior Department that they said clarified how the damage actually occurred.
According to the dismissal motion, the Reflecting Pool’s damaged lining was not the result of deliberate vandalism. Instead, prosecutors said it stemmed from a “hasty” and “botched” installation carried out as officials rushed to finish the project ahead of the Trump administration’s July 4 deadline.
The reversal marked a striking shift for the Trump administration and for Pirro, who had spent weeks asserting that federal prosecutors had “tremendous evidence” showing Hearn vandalized the Reflecting Pool and caused more than $1,000 in estimated damage.
President Donald Trump looks on as Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, speaks at the White House
Fencing surrounds the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, amid claims of ‘vandalism’
Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland speaks to reporters as he exits the US Capitol in Washington, DC
Hearn had been charged with malicious destruction of property, and could have faced up to 10 years in prison had the case not been dropped.
But Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are unsatisfied with that conclusion – and are demanding answers from Pirro and Burgum to determine who knew what, and when.
‘Did the United States Attorney’s Office for DC in fact maliciously prosecute an American citizen it knew to be innocent with a felony charge carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison?’ the panel’s ranking Democrat, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said in a letter his office sent to Pirro and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
‘Did the U.S. Department of the Interior … deliberately mislead prosecutors to cover up a ‘botched’ renovation by a company awarded a dubious $15 million insider no-bid contract?’
Crews are seen removing algae from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool following a directive from Trump
President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are seen on a tour of the East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, DC
Raskin also noted that court documents show DOJ apparently had been made aware that the newly installed pool liner was already peeling ‘more than a week’ before Hearn’s arrest, though prosecutors claimed later that Interior officials failed to provide that evidence to prosecutors until after his indictment, raising additional questions about the timing of the case.
‘At a minimum, it appears that members of the Trump Administration were ready and willing to imprison an innocent American for a decade in a desperate effort to soothe an ex-landlord’s wounded ego about a terrible paint job and wasteful contract,’ Raskin said in a press release this week.
‘We must get to the bottom of these murky waters to rid our justice system of any and all residual contamination,’ he added.
The White House did not immediately respond to Our News Outlet’s request for comment on the probe.
