Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Vol. VIII
Est. 2019

The Mind Shield

News · Opinion · Politics · Analysis

White House asks DOJ to revive Reflecting Pool case against former Olympian.

White House asks DOJ to revive Reflecting Pool case against former Olympian.
The repainted Reflecting Pool, pictured in late July, was drained a second time after the Fourth of July fireworks. Photo: Finn Gomez/Getty Images

The White House is asking the Todd Blanche-led Department of Justice to consider new charges against the former Olympian David Hearn for alleged vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, after the department dropped the case.

According to the Wall Street Journal, officials in the White House are asking the Justice Department to “consider a new prosecution” of Hearn, and there are informal discussions at the DOJ about possibly charging the ex-Olympian with a misdemeanor.

Hearn was charged with felony destruction of property after the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, accused him of allegedly “forcefully and violently” ripping up parts of the pool floor.

Pirro’s office dropped the charge last month, admitting in a court filing that Trump’s $14 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool was “hasty and botched,” adding that the damage to the pool “was the result of flawed installation by the contractor.”

“The damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI,” Pirro’s office wrote.

Pirro’s office also dropped three other misdemeanor cases charging people with similar accusations of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.

Both Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum pushed back, insisting that vandals destroyed the pool but have provided no evidence.

Trump eventually acknowledged on Sunday that there was “no video or proof” of alleged vandalism to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and acknowledged that work on the pool was rushed, but still insisted that vandals, namely Hearn, deserve some blame for the pool’s woes.

“A National Park Service career employee, a highly credible witness, saw David Hearn (ActBlue) in broad daylight vandalize the Reflecting Pool by “violently” ripping and tugging at the Pool’s somewhat delicate coating,” he wrote on Truth Social.

On Monday, Hearn’s lawyers said they were “reviewing all legal remedies” for the “continued harassment.”