The US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, moved to dismiss an indictment charging US Olympic canoeist David Hearn with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
In a court filing, Pirro stated that damage to the Reflecting Pool's sealant was the result of a 'flawed installation'. The DOJ office also cited a 'rushed and botched installation' as the reason for dropping the case, and blamed the contractor for over spraying and delamination.
Age of David Hearn, a former US Olympian and canoeist, who had been charged with felony destruction of property.
Hearn, 67, was charged in early July with felony destruction of property. At a press conference, Pirro said Hearn 'violently' ripped up part of the pool's liner with his bare hands.
Violently ripped up part of the pool's liner with his bare hands.
Attorneys for Hearn accused the Trump administration of making the ex-Olympian a 'scapegoat' for the troubled renovation. The renovation was touted by President Donald Trump as one of many ordered ahead of America's 250th birthday celebrations.
Trump had repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that vandals had cut a gash hundreds of feet long along the bottom of the Reflecting Pool.