Interior Secretary Doug Burgum sharply criticized the dismissal of a vandalism case against 67-year-old Olympic canoeist David Hearn on Saturday, escalating a rare public dispute within the administration between a cabinet secretary and a U.S. Attorney, Jeanine Pirro, over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The Reflecting Pool, part of the National Mall and maintained by the National Park Service under Burgum's department, underwent a lining replacement as part of infrastructure work ahead of the America 250 celebration marking the nation's semiquincentennial.

Burgum took to X to voice his frustration after Pirro dropped the case — and attributed the failure to secure a conviction to Burgum's own department.

"Vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool," Burgum wrote. "We won't back down to deranged people who want to destroy, deface, or degrade our monuments."

His remarks mirrored earlier comments from President Donald Trump on Truth Social.

"I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro," Trump wrote. "I don't know what she was thinking?"

Pirro's rationale was laid out in a 20-page court filing submitted Friday, which concluded there was insufficient evidence to sustain the charges. According to the filing, the damage stemmed from "a flawed installation by the contractor" combined with "the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026."

"Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt," the filing stated.

Pirro further accused the Interior Department of misleading her prosecutors, alleging that the department withheld key information — including the fact that the pool lining had begun peeling within two days of the project's completion.

Burgum pushed back forcefully, insisting his department had cooperated fully with prosecutors.

"We also provided the U.S. Attorney's office expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals and provided every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested time line detailing each area of damage at the pool," Burgum declared. "Intentional damage done to the Reflecting Pool is no different than defacing any one of our other national monuments."

Hearn's legal team said in a statement Friday that the charges should never have been brought, as PBS News reported.

"Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong," the lawyers said. "The government's approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology."