Trump Administration Drops Charges Against Olympic Athlete David Hearn Over Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Incident

The U.S. Attorney's Office for Washington, D.C., on Friday (July 31) filed a motion to drop criminal charges against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.

In court documents, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro admitted that the earlier charges lacked a solid foundation. She stated that the damage to the reflecting pool was the result of faulty installation, not vandalism as previously reported by the Department of the Interior.

“This damage was due to faulty installation, not vandalism as initially represented by the Department of the Interior,” Pirro wrote in the filing.

The move fully reverses the stance Pirro herself had taken on July 2, when she claimed that Hearn had “used force and violence” to tear the newly installed lining of the reflecting pool—a part of a renovation project initiated by President Trump. She had warned that Hearn could face up to 10 years in prison for damaging government property.

Pirro said that information about the installation errors was provided by the Department of the Interior only after the indictment had been issued. She blamed “inadequate police reports” for her office's inability to learn of the issue earlier. According to her, it was not until July 17 that her office received supplementary materials from the Department of the Interior, including “695 megabytes of data” showing a rushed and flawed installation process.

Pirro also pointed to the pressure to complete the project before the July 4th holiday—the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States—as a cause of the structural failure. President Trump had planned numerous events at the site during the celebration.

“The rush to finish the project led to hasty work and technical errors that were not corrected before completion and removal of the fencing,” Pirro explained, citing delays, inclement weather, and multiple failed tests.

The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, stretching 618 meters between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, has been the site of many historic events, including the 1963 March on Washington, where Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. The pool had long been leaking along its granite edges and concrete floor.

In April 2026, President Trump unexpectedly announced plans to renovate the pool by lining its floor with a “flag blue” coating, with a promise to complete it “by July 4” at low cost. However, just days after its completion in early June, the pool began to show a thick green algae layer and peeling paint.

The project also sparked controversy when it was awarded without competitive bidding to Atlantic Industrial Coatings—a company owned by a Trump supporter—under a $13.1 billion contract, justified by the supposed need for urgent renovation.

In a related development, President Trump had previously claimed the pool was deliberately vandalized, saying that “some vandals were caught on our beautiful reflecting pool” and suggesting the culprits should “spend many years in jail.” David Hearn, a three-time Olympian representing the United States, was among seven people charged in connection with the incident. He admitted to riding his bike across the pool, touching the peeling adhesive, but denied any vandalism.

In a statement, Hearn's legal team called the case “an abuse of state power” and said the Trump administration should apologize to their client.