DOJ moves to dismiss charges against former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, admits reflecting pool issues were caused by 'flawed installation'

The Justice Department moved to dismiss the criminal case against former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn on Friday.

The DOJ had accused Hearn of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which saw repeated issues earlier this year after the Trump Administration's attempts to make it look blue. Hearn faced a felony charge of "destruction of property $1,000 or more."

Hearn was arrested on June 19 and pleaded not guilty. He conceded to the Washington Post that he had reached into the pool — but only to touch a piece of paint that had peeled off from the bottom of the basin and floated to the top of the water.

President Donald Trump and his administration have repeatedly claimed vandalism to be the cause of the reflecting pool's woes. However, U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro walked back this claim in the motion to dismiss while claiming that the DOJ moved ahead with the charges based on information from the Department of the Interior.

The 20-page document outright admits the damage was "the result of flawed installation by the contractor."

The Reflecting Pool renovations were conducted by Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which received a no-bid contract from the Trump Administration. After indicting Hearn, the DOJ claimed it received information from the Department of the Interior indicating that AIC had botched the job in a rush to be ready for the Fourth of July:

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. It was not until after these documents were produced that USAO-DC first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI.

Hearn competed in three Summer Olympics in the canoe slalom, finishing ninth in the C-1 race at the 1996 Atlanta Games. He also raced in the 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney Olympics.

He won six consecutive world championships in the C-1 team competition from 1979 to 1989 and two individual titles in 1985 and 1995.