President Trump sharply rebuked U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Saturday after federal prosecutors abruptly abandoned a high-profile vandalism case tied to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
According to Gateway Pundit, the Justice Department on Friday dismissed the case against David Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist who had been charged with felony destruction of government property and faced up to 10 years in prison. Hearn, who was initially arrested and hit with a misdemeanor count for allegedly tearing up the sealant at the Lincoln Reflecting Pool last month, was later indicted by a grand jury in D.C. Superior Court on more serious felony charges.
Hearn has consistently denied any wrongdoing, even as federal authorities escalated the case earlier this month. During a press conference at that time, Pirro asserted that Hearn violently and forcefully ripped up the sealant, language that signaled the Biden Justice Department was prepared to make an example of the former Olympian.
Yet on Friday, Pirro reversed course, announcing that new information from the Department of the Interior shifted blame away from Hearn and onto a government contractor. It was not until after the return of the indictment [of Hearn], that the [Department of Interior] provided additional documents to the [US Attorneys Office in DC] indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026, Pirros office wrote.
President Trump, who has long criticized the politicization and inconsistency of federal law enforcement under Democrat leadership, made clear he was not persuaded by Pirros explanation. I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool, he said in a statement, adding, I dont know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area.
The President acknowledged there may have been some contractor difficulty, but insisted that was not the real story. There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS! President DJT, he declared, urging Americans to judge the evidence with their own eyes.
Look for yourselves at the VANDALISM that took place at The Reflecting Pool. The material is being cut with a knife or a box cutter, for all to see! Trump said, underscoring his view that accountability for attacks on national monuments should not be casually waived. For many conservatives already skeptical of the Justice Departments double standards, the swift about-face in a case that once featured tough rhetoric about violent conduct only deepens concerns that political calculations, not equal justice, are driving prosecutorial decisions in the nations capital.
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