{"id":8439,"date":"2026-07-31T23:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T23:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8439"},"modified":"2026-07-31T23:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T23:06:07","slug":"prosecutors-drop-reflecting-pool-damage-charge-against-former-olympian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8439","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors drop Reflecting Pool damage charge against former Olympian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump has claimed that vandals deliberately damaged the pool, but prosecutors say internal documents suggest the problems were due to contractor errors.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Why senators fear Trump\u2019s DOJ payout fund isn\u2019t dead, despite Blanche\u2019s promises<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The drained Reflecting Pool last weekend. (Elizabeth Frantz\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Federal prosecutors on Friday moved to drop a criminal charge filed against a former Olympian who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial\u2019s reflecting pool, suggesting that the damage was instead due to a rushed installation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the filing in D.C. Superior Court<\/a>, internal Interior Department documents chalked up the peeling of the pool liner to contractor errors made during a rushed process to overhaul the pool ahead of celebrations to mark the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary in July.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said they would dismiss the indictment against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist who had been accused of felony vandalism.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump \u2014 who ordered the changes to the pool \u2014 and his aides have repeatedly blamed vandals after pieces of the refurbished pool\u2019s new blue liner started drifting to the surface.<\/p>

Read more At typically tranquil Camp David, Trump publicly lashes out at political enemies<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGiven all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,\u201d Hearn\u2019s lawyers, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin, said in a statement. \u201cIts dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government\u2019s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the administration\u2019s past accusations against Hearn and the Justice Department\u2019s decision to drop the case.<\/p>

Read more Photographer of viral ICE image threatens to sue super PAC for using it<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a developing story. It will be updated. <\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump has claimed vandals deliberated damaged the pool, but prosecutors say internal documents show it was likely contractor error.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nProsecutors drop Reflecting Pool damage charge against former Olympian - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8439\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prosecutors drop Reflecting Pool damage charge against former Olympian - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trump has claimed vandals deliberated damaged the pool, but prosecutors say internal documents show it was likely contractor error.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8439\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-31T23:06:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/12bc74bbc59167793995016fb1f928d9-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Prosecutors drop Reflecting Pool damage charge against former Olympian\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-31T23:06:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439\"},\"wordCount\":357,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d84809a3db1b778db8c0e8721a238420-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439\",\"name\":\"Prosecutors drop Reflecting Pool damage charge against former Olympian - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d84809a3db1b778db8c0e8721a238420-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-31T23:06:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8439#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d84809a3db1b778db8c0e8721a238420-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d84809a3db1b778db8c0e8721a238420-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool remains drained, following renovations and Independence Day celebrations, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 26, 2026. 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