WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has dropped its case against a former Olympic canoeist charged in connection with damage to the Reflecting Pool, acknowledging their allegations against David “Davey” Hearn don’t hold water.

In a filing Friday afternoon, a supervisor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which is headed by Jeanine Pirro, wrote that officials obtained information that undermined “the evidentiary basis for the indictment” against Hearn.

Prosecutors said that after the indictment, the Interior Department “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.”

DOJ said they “first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism” after reviewing more documents.

The Justice Department filing said that based on its review of evidence, “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.”

A spokesperson for Pirro said the filing spoke for itself. Her office also moved to dismiss at least one of the other three misdemeanor cases that had been brought in connection with the Reflecting Pool.

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[–] 99 points 2 months ago (15 children)

I was under the impression there was ample visual evidence that the pool installation was clearly botched prior to the arrest of this Olympic athlete.

Therefore, I'm inclined to believe there's something disingenuous about this response from the DOJ:

DOJ said they “first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism” after reviewing more documents.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

If the above assumption is true, I wonder if the Olympic athlete can file a legal complaint against the DOJ.

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  • [–] 87 points 2 months ago (9 children)

    I was willing to believe the installation was botched until the Trump Administration said so. Now I'm convinced the installation was just overpriced, and the damage was done by Trump driving his motorcade down the middle before it was fully cured.

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  • [–] 44 points 2 months ago (8 children)

    Driving an armored motorcade through it sure didn’t help, and the installation of lining doesn’t even address leakage or any issues with the pool anyway, just handing money to friends.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 months ago (5 children)

    They used a fucking spray on truck bed liner…

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  • [–] 16 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    And then when blame time comes, throwing those friends under the motorcade.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    Nah he rehired the same guy to redo it and for other projects around the district unfortunately.

    And arresting someone several days after pieces were filmed floating in the water, and only dropping it when the masses wouldn’t blindly follow? That’s icing on the ‘we know what caused it’ cake.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 months ago

    The DOJ lawyers could be liable personally for sanctions if it turns out they already "knew" this information at the time they were presenting the case to the grand jury. Therefore the official story has to be that they didn't "know."

    Sanctions could include things like monetary fines, referral to bar association discipline, and so forth. In the Chicago 6 case, the defendants were awarded their attorneys' fees as a sanction after grand jury misconduct.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    What happened is that they needed to admit the job was botched in order to make an insurance claim. The company which manufacrures the coating also seemed to be getting ready to start lobbing legal grenades

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  • [–] 72 points 2 months ago* (4 children)

    I know who vandalized the reflecting pool. It was these assholes:

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  • [–] 42 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    And I thought somebody commenting above about a motorcade driving down it was a joke. Im tired, boss

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  • [–] 15 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Nope - Trump demanded that they take him out there so that he could see the progress in person, but he didn't want to walk, 'cause that'd be too much effort and poor Natalie Harp's arms would get tired from carrying all his backup diapers. So they got a motorcade together and drove to the reflecting pool, but he couldn't get a good enough vantage point from the side, so he had them drive onto the freshly sealed surface.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    The freshly sealed surface that’s designed to hold water, not armored vehicles, mind you.

    It’s very possible that not only is the unnecessary pool liner damaged, but the underlying concrete is, too.

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  • [–] 33 points 2 months ago (7 children)

    LOL. "The argument doesn't hold water." Just like the reflecting pool.

    That cunt Jeanine Pirro stood in front of microphones and accused this guy of vandalism and that it was over $1000. Trump got in front of the world and said someone vandalized it and now. Oops, golly, must have been the incompetent Maralago crony we hired. Well, guess we'll just hire him again to fix it and keep arresting people for "vandalizing" it.

    FFS.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 months ago (5 children)

    Has Jeanine Pirro actually successfully prosecuted anyone since she was hired? The sandwich guy, now the pool guy, she doesn't seem too great a prosecutor.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    To be fair, she’s very drunk.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    I'm mildly surprised at the number of alcoholics in the administration given that Trump himself is a teetotaler.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 months ago

    She doesn't have to successfully conclude the prosecution to completely ruin someone's life. She should be in prison herself. What she did should be a crime, if it's not already. Same goes for Trump. Lying scum, both of them.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    Its almost like this is all run by people who are incapable of concieving they may have faults, and instead are literally habitually used to throwing people under the bus.

    ... Remember Trump's first term?

    Turned 'Scaramucci' into a measurement of time, like Lizz Truss and the lettuce.

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  • [–] 25 points 2 months ago

    ...acknowledging their allegations against David “Davey” Hearn don’t hold water.

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  • [–] 23 points 2 months ago

    They got their headline for a week that people have been arrested, that's all they needed.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Let's all just take a moment to appreciate that 5:45 pm on Friday is apparently the best time for news like this to drop.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    He had his scumbag pedophile friend put it in

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  • [–] 15 points 2 months ago

    dude better sue the ever living fuck out of them.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 months ago

    Quietly. On a Friday afternoon. Hoping another fuck-up will disappear quietly... They are nothing but predictable.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 months ago

    Donald Trump owns the largest most dangerous bus company on Earth, because he throws everyone under one.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 months ago

    I had to go back a little to read up on what actually happened.

    Both Pirro and Trump brazenly accuse and insult Hearn, claiming "evidence", blowing the whole thing up into anarchy and terrorism. The full 180 she does here is amazing. Nothing except momentary outrage matters anymore.

    I suspect the real culprit is Trump himself. To quote a famous play: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

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  • [–] 11 points 2 months ago

    So it wasn't Dumb-ocrats sabotaging it with their communism?

    Interesting.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 months ago

    It’s just turtles incompetence all the way down

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  • [–] 11 points 2 months ago

    Its lawsuit time! Hes an olympian, so slander like this affects his livelihood and potential income.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 months ago

    acknowledging their allegations against David “Davey” Hearn don’t hold water.

    Well neither does the pool, so what were they expecting?

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    How much did this nonsense cost taxpayers?

    Go on. How much?

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    ... acknowledging their allegations against David “Davey” Hearn don’t hold water.

    ... heh.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    More like "botched administration", amirite!?

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  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago

    Additional takeaway: Trump throws another contractor under the bus.

    It’s not going to happen, but it would be HILARIOUS if somehow TwirlyMustache VonCombover becomes the guy to do Trump in. Dude has to have dirt.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    they were seeing if the lawsuit was distracting enough for the epstein files enws that is coming up on the news, nope.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    Botched installation and driving cars in the pool

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