{"id":4077,"date":"2026-08-02T18:09:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=4077"},"modified":"2026-08-02T18:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:09:26","slug":"trump-responds-after-doj-throws-interior-dept-under-bus-in-dismissing-botched-reflecting-pool-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=4077","title":{"rendered":"Trump Responds After DOJ Throws Interior Dept Under Bus In Dismissing \u2018Botched\u2019 Reflecting Pool Case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Department of Justice dropped charges late Friday against an Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the National Mall\u2019s Reflecting Pool and instead dismissed another Trump administration department\u2019s claims over its condition.<\/p>\n

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U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro filed a motion to dismiss her office\u2019s July 2 second-degree felony indictment against three-time Olympian David Hearn, 67, NBC News reported. Hearn was arrested in June by U.S. Park Police (USPP) after officers spotted him inspecting the iconic pool\u2019s apparently peeling lining. In her motion, Pirro \u2014 a former Fox News host and noted ally of President Donald Trump \u2014 said the Department of the Interior (DOI), which oversees the USPP, had presented a misleading case to the Justice Department (DOJ).<\/p>\n

Trump, shortly thereafter, doubled down on the argument that the pool\u2019s condition was \u201cVANDALISM [sic<\/em>],\u201d indicating he disagreed \u201c100%\u201d with his appointee in a Saturday post to Truth Social.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased upon the initial reports provided by the [DOI] and the [USPP], the United States Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Columbia (\u201cUSAO-DC\u201d) presented the grand jury with evidence that damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by vandals, including the defendant in this case, David Hearn,\u201d Pirro wrote in the Friday filing.<\/p>\n

At a July 2 press conference announcing her office\u2019s indictment of Hearn, the U.S. attorney had declared the retired canoeist \u201cwillfully destroyed property\u201d at the pool and \u201cripped a piece of recently installed sealant.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Pirro, however, has reversed course, writing in her Friday motion that the Reflecting Pool\u2019s extreme state of disrepair was not caused by vandalism, as the DOI claimed. Instead, she said, it was \u201cthe result of a botched installation\u201d she noted was rushed in order for it to be completed in time for the country\u2019s 250th birthday on July 4. (RELATED: Trump\u2019s Reflecting Pool Makeover Hits The Deep End At $13.1 Million In Newly Reported Costs)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The judge-turned-U.S. attorney also stated it was not until after Hearn\u2019s indictment was returned \u201cthat the DOI provided additional documents\u201d to her office showing the party responsible for the pool\u2019s damage was Atlantic Industrial Coatings (AIC), the contractor handling its renovation. Pirro concluded that AIC went about the repairs in a \u201cflawed\u201d manner. <\/p>\n

The White House referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to Trump\u2019s Truth Social post when asked for comment. Neither Pirro\u2019s office, the DOI, nor Hearn\u2019s attorney, Norm Eisen, immediately responded to the DCNF\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n