Charge dropped
Federal prosecutors in Washington have dropped the felony case against David Hearn, a former Olympian accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The pool had just gone through a major renovation when large cracks appeared in its floor.
In a court filing on Friday, the office of US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said it would not move forward with the charge. The decision ends a case that had drawn intense attention from the White House and the public. Hearn had denied any wrongdoing from the start, and his lawyers called the charge a rush to judgment.
Shoddy construction vs. vandalism
The reversal rests on a simple dispute over cause. President Trump had said the damage was the work of a vandal and demanded prosecution. Pirro's office concluded instead that the pool failed because of poor construction work, not deliberate destruction.
Trump responded publicly, saying he disagrees with the decision completely. The split is awkward for the administration because Pirro is a Trump appointee and a familiar figure on conservative media. The president has previously praised her handling of high-profile cases.
Fallout in Washington
The case has become a flashpoint in a city already full of political fights. Some Republicans argue the charges should have stayed in place, while legal observers say prosecutors were right to drop a case they could not prove.
The National Park Service now faces the task of repairing the pool again. Officials have not released a cost estimate, but similar concrete repairs on the National Mall have run into the millions of dollars. The pool was drained for the renovation and had only recently reopened to visitors when the cracks appeared.
The dispute also raises questions about how the Justice Department handles cases that attract presidential attention. Critics say the episode shows the pressure prosecutors face when the White House takes a personal interest in an investigation. The episode is also a reminder of how quickly a maintenance problem can become a national story when it happens at one of America's most visited landmarks. Millions of tourists walk past the Reflecting Pool every year, and its image is a staple of films and postcards.