White House officials have asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to explore whether it would be possible to pursue a new prosecution against the man accused of vandalizing the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, weeks after federal prosecutors moved to dismiss felony charges against him, Fox News has learned.
The previous case, which U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office moved to dismiss on July 31, accused Olympic canoeist David Hearn of damaging the costly $14 million project after cracks, algae growth and peeling sealant were discovered.
Pirro's office cited findings from the Department of the Interior that concluded the damage was linked to flaws in the installation process rather than vandalism.
White House officials have since reached out to the DOJ to determine whether Hearn could instead face a misdemeanor charge, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. No final decision has been made, Fox News has learned.
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In response to the move, Hearn's attorneys said pursuing a new case would only undermine the DOJ's credibility after prosecutors already acknowledged they lacked sufficient evidence to support the original charges.
"If true, it would mark a shocking first: a case that the DOJ lost by its own admission because it lacked the evidence to convict, returning from the dead. This would add another bizarre turn to a sad chapter in the DOJ's history and further harass an innocent man," the attorneys said in a joint statement.
The statement was issued by Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group, and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP.
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While Pirro's office has moved to drop the original federal case, prosecutors sought a dismissal without prejudice, meaning the charges could potentially be brought again.
The possibility of a renewed prosecution comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly maintained that the damage was caused by vandalism.
President Donald Trump said slashes were found in the pool's material that appeared to have been made with a knife. He also claimed people had been seen kneeling at those exact locations with their hands in the water.
U.S. Park Police identified Hearn as a suspect after he was reportedly seen grabbing and tugging on a loose section of the pool's coating on June 19. Police said he continued to do so even after National Park Service employees urged him to stop.
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The damage was estimated at about $1,000 and resulted in Hearn's indictment on July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property.
Trump has urged Pirro to reconsider her "hastily made" decision to drop that felony charge and criticized Hearn's alleged political connections, claiming he was a "big player" in the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue.
"U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision, especially since it turned out that the ‘gentleman’ involved is a big player in ActBlue, a disgraceful fundraising SCAM, and is represented by a TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG, Political Hack Lawyer, Norm Eisen, and CREW, a group that uses ‘charity’ for political purposes which is, to the best of my knowledge, ILLEGAL!" Trump said.
Trump later said Pirro "choked" under pressure from a judge regarding the case and "folded like an umbrella."
