The administration of United States President Donald Trump has moved to drop criminal charges against former Olympic athlete David Hearn, who was accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.

In a motion filed on Friday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro acknowledged that the accusations against Hearn did not appear substantiated. Pirro wrote that it was only after the indictment was returned that the Department of Interior provided documents indicating the damage to the pool in June 2026 resulted from flawed installation by the contractor. She explained that the rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work, which was not remediated before the project's completion and removal of fencing. Delayed installation, inclement weather, and repeated testing failures were cited as contributing factors.

The 618-meter Reflecting Pool, a historic site known for events such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, had its new lining observed peeling within two days of the final inspection on June 11, according to a National Park Service engineer.

The athlete, David Hearn, said he was bicycling past the Reflecting Pool when he stopped and felt the peeling sealant.

President Trump criticized his own Department of Justice for dropping the charges, expressing on his Truth Social page that he disagreed "100 percent" with Pirro's assessment, though he did not directly reference Hearn. The decision came a day after Pirro announced the dismissal of charges against the 67-year-old competitive canoeist.

This development follows the Trump administration's earlier indictment of Hearn for the alleged vandalism, marking a significant reversal in the case.

Sources