The US Department of Justice on Friday moved to dismiss its criminal case against David Hearn, the Olympic athlete it had accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC — one of the most visited sites on the National Mall, drawing millions of tourists each year. The reversal has prompted demands that the DOJ issue a formal apology.

Hearn's attorneys — Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group, and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP — issued a joint statement condemning the prosecution. "The Trump administration's case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought," they said. "Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government's approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology."

The case originated from a troubled renovation project. In April, President Donald Trump announced plans to refurbish the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary. Despite millions spent on resurfacing, the water turned green from algae within two months. The administration then authorized a hydrogen peroxide treatment and awarded a $1.7 million no-bid contract to a company owned by a Trump donor — a departure from the competitive bidding process generally required under federal procurement regulations. Multiple ducks were subsequently found dead.

Hearn, one of several individuals accused of tampering with the pool, was arrested in June. The following month, Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Columbia, announced that her office had secured a felony indictment against the 67-year-old, who faced up to ten years in prison. Hearn pleaded not guilty, with a trial set for September.

"I didn't vandalize anything," Hearn, an Olympic canoeist, told The Washington Post. He explained that he had touched a piece of pool lining already peeling off. "I didn't destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs."

In its Friday motion to dismiss, Pirro's office stated that after the indictment was returned, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) provided information indicating the damage "was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings (AIC), and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026."

"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 court document states.

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin noted Pirro's earlier pledge to "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that Hearn caused the damage. NBC News reported that "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."

Criticism extends beyond the DOJ. Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), targeted the DOI in a Saturday statement.

"This project has become a poster child for corruption and why competitive bidding and transparency in federal contracting matter," Whitehouse said. "Transparency in contracting prevents waste, self-dealing, and exactly the kind of expensive, embarrassing failure this project has become. Decisions about the best way to repair public infrastructure should rest with engineers and career experts following open, competitive bidding, not with political officials chasing a photo-op deadline ordered by the president while steering money to favored contractors."

"The use of false charges and criminal prosecutions to deflect blame away from politically powerful leaders and their allies is an abuse of the justice system that cannot be tolerated," he continued. "The Interior Department officials responsible for this failure — the no-bid contract, the botched renovation, lying to the public and the rush to blame an innocent man — owe the public a full accounting. PEER calls on Congress to investigate and demands that those responsible face real consequences."

Trump took to Truth Social to state that he "100%" disagrees with Pirro, fueling speculation that he might dismiss her. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum subsequently posted on X that "the evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool" — a message New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel characterized as "repeating the boss."

Hearn's legal team pushed back against both the administration and Pirro's justification for the dismissal. "Trump and Burgum are attacking Pirro because she admitted what we established in our legal filings all along: Trump's botched renovation was responsible for the damage — not Davey Hearn. However, Pirro's claim that she and her office were previously duped by Interior is nonsense."

"Starting immediately after arraignment, our motions repeatedly proved that the administration was to blame for the Reflecting Pool failures, not Davey," they added. "This is far from over, as we consider all legal remedies."