Republican commentator and prominent Trump supporter Scott Jennings delivered a blistering critique during a Friday panel discussion following the Justice Department's admission that it lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute a former Olympic athlete for alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.

The Trump administration moved to dismiss its case against David "Davey" Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist, late Friday after conceding that the charges "don't hold water," NBC News reported. A supervisor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which is headed by Jeanine Pirro, acknowledged in a filing that officials' information had undermined "the evidentiary basis for the indictment" against Hearn. The D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office is unique among federal prosecutors in handling both local and federal cases, making its leadership decisions a frequent flashpoint in debates over the intersection of national politics and local justice.

Appearing on CNN's "The Source" with guest anchor Erica Hill, Jennings called the reversal a faceplant moment and a deeply embarrassing episode for President Donald Trump's Department of Justice. Jennings, typically one of the president's most vocal defenders on CNN panels, said the criticism was difficult for him to deliver.

"On this one, the administration looks like a monkey having intimate relations with a football," Jennings told Hill. "It looks terrible. And, you know, after everything that was said, this guy, he is owed an apology. And I don't know what the procedures are for it, but he ought to sue anybody that he thinks he can to get his name back. I have a strong reaction, to be honest with you, when people have their name dragged through the mud, and that's obviously what happened here."

Pirro had personally appeared before an audience at the time of Hearn's indictment and publicly branded him a vandal who had damaged the Reflecting Pool with both hands.

Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Hill that the stinging setback would not deter the Trump administration from wielding the DOJ as a political instrument.

"He is owed an apology. And I think that Pirro should step down or she should be fired. I mean, this is an indication of the clown car that this administration has become and an example of incompetence, of buffoonery and complete unseriousness," Cardona said. "This isn't the only time where the Department of Justice has been seen as a vehicle to do Trump's bidding, as opposed to dispensing justice under law for the American people. You even have judges across the country who are saying they don't even trust the attorneys that are before them in cases, and various cases coming from the Department of Justice. This is just sort of the icing on that ridiculous, embarrassing cake."

"I do think he's owed an apology. I don't think he's going to get it," Cardona added. "And I think that this is also going to reflect badly on Republicans, as we go into the midterm elections, as an example of so much that is wrong with this administration and the Republicans who have been unable and unwilling to stand up to it."

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