White House Pushes DOJ to Revive Reflecting Pool Case

The White House has asked the US Department of Justice to consider bringing fresh charges against former Olympian David Hearn over alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Officials at Main Justice, the department’s Washington headquarters, were asked to review whether new charges should be filed after an earlier prosecution was dropped following what the District of Columbia US attorney said was insufficient evidence to prove the damage was caused by Hearn.

Request follows dismissal of vandalism case

Hearn, an Olympian, faced charges relating to damage to the reflecting pool. Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, dismissed the case on 31 July.

In a 20-page court filing, Pirro’s office said it had received evidence indicating that damage to the pool occurred before Hearn visited it. The filing added that it was “difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism”, and that proving such a link beyond a reasonable doubt would be hard.

Pirro’s office also cited issues connected to a contractor’s installation of the pool, according to the dismissal documents.

Hearn has denied wrongdoing, saying he reached into the water to touch a piece of already detached lining during a June bike ride.

Trump criticised Pirro over dismissal

Donald Trump publicly attacked Pirro after the charges were dropped, saying she “choked” when she decided to end the prosecution. He has previously complained about the case.

The White House request was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. It was not clear what legal or evidential basis would support a renewed prosecution.

DOJ says it weighs evidence and law

A Department of Justice spokesperson did not confirm whether it was considering filing new charges. The spokesperson said: “The Department of Justice follows the evidence when determining if crimes have been committed. We always evaluate any case based on the facts and the law.”

The White House also did not directly say whether it had made the request. In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson directed questions to the justice department and shared links to two recent posts on Truth Social in which Trump urged Pirro to reconsider her decision and suggested there was evidence against Hearn.

Lawyers representing Hearn said the request would be unusual. Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin said in a statement that if the reporting was accurate it would be “another bizarre turn”, arguing that it would mark a case returning “from the dead” despite the earlier dismissal.

Attorney general praises Pirro, avoids ruling

Attorney general Todd Blanche, recently confirmed by the Senate, praised Pirro but did not give a clear view on the decision to dismiss the case.

Blanche said he did not “approve or disapprove decisions that our US attorneys make in a general matter”, and that he would not comment on what was known about the case. He added that, hypothetically, if the president chose to fire a US attorney, the president would be allowed to do so because “he’s the president of the United States.”

Join the discussion?

12 August 2026

View full article