RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesPresident Donald Trump on Friday urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to take a second look at the recently dropped charges over vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
"Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool," Trump wrote on Truth Social, sharing photos from a freelance photographer that allegedly showed vandalism.
The president claimed that "People were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the ‘slashes.’ Additionally, there were witnesses to the VANDALISM, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife.
TRUMP SAYS HE 'DISAGREES 100%' WITH U.S. ATTORNEY JEANINE PIRRO OVER REFLECTING POOL CASE
"U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision, especially since it turned out that the ‘gentleman’ involved is a big player in ActBlue , a disgraceful fundraising SCAM, and is represented by a TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG, Political Hack Lawyer, Norm Eisen, and CREW, a group that uses ‘charity’ for political purposes which is, to the best of my knowledge, ILLEGAL!"
Trump has been highly critical of Pirro’s decision to drop the felony vandalism case against former Olympian David Hearn last Friday.
Earlier this week, Trump claimed Pirro "choked" under pressure from a judge regarding the case and "folded like an umbrella."
A day after the case was dropped, Trump wrote on Truth Social "I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia , on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking?"
FORMER US OLYMPIAN DAVID HEARN INDICTED IN ALLEGED REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM
Hearn was indicted on July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property. U.S. Park Police alleged Hearn grabbed and tugged at a loose section of the pool’s coating on June 19, continuing after a National Park Service employee told him to stop. Officials initially claimed he caused more than $1,000 in damage.
However, Pirro’s office said the Department of the Interior initially provided prosecutors with "barebones" reports and failed to disclose records documenting extensive problems with the coating’s installation.
"Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment," prosecutors wrote.
"It was not until after the return of the indictment, that the DOI provided additional documents to the USAO-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 (‘AIC’), and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026."
OLYMPIAN CHARGED IN REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM DONATED THROUGH DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT
The DOJ said the new evidence made it difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn caused the damage. Prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, which would leave open the possibility of bringing the charge again.
"The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought," Hearn’s attorneys Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin in a statement last Friday, according to the New York Post. "Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology."
Fox News' Jackson Thompson and Reuters contributed to this report.
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