The Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped charges late Friday, August 1st, 2026, against David Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist, who was accused of vandalizing the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool.

Jeanine Pirro, Attorney for the District of Columbia and former Fox News host, filed a motion to dismiss her office’s July 2 second-degree felony indictment against Hearn. Pirro stated that the Department of the Interior (DOI), which oversees the U.S. Park Police (USPP), had presented a misleading case to the DOJ.

According to Pirro's filing, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia initially presented the grand jury with evidence that vandals, including Hearn, caused damage to the Reflecting Pool. However, after the indictment was returned, the DOI provided additional documents revealing that Atlantic Industrial Coatings (AIC), the contractor responsible for the pool’s renovation, was actually responsible for the damage.

In April, Burgum’s DOI awarded a $6.9 million no-bid contract to AIC for the renovation work. Hearn, a Washington area native and member of the U.S. canoe slalom team in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics, has maintained his innocence since his arrest. He told The Washington Post in June that he had been on a long bicycle ride and stopped at the pool to inspect a sheet that was "already peeling" from its bottom.

Following the dismissal motion, former President Donald Trump publicly disagreed with Pirro’s position, insisting on Truth Social that the pool’s condition was due to "VANDALISM" and expressing 100% disagreement with his appointee.

Sources