The White House has asked the Department of Justice to weigh new charges against David Hearn, a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, according to a person familiar with the matter. The request aims to revive a case that President Donald Trump has publicly criticized since US Attorney Jeanine Pirro dropped the charges, citing insufficient evidence.
Background of the Case
Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, dropped the charges against Hearn on 31 July. In a 20-page filing, her office said it had received evidence that damage to the pool occurred before Hearn visited it, stating that “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” Hearn has maintained that he reached into the water to touch a piece of already detached lining during a bike ride in June.
Trump has publicly rebuked Pirro for the decision, saying she “choked.” The White House made the request to officials at Main Justice, the department’s Washington DC headquarters, though the basis for new charges remains unclear. The request was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
DOJ and White House Responses
The Justice Department did not directly respond when asked whether it was considering new charges. A spokesperson said in an email: “The Department of Justice follows the evidence when determining if crimes have been committed. We always evaluate any case based on the facts and the law.”
The White House also did not directly address the request, with a spokesperson referring a request for comment to the Justice Department and sending links to two recent Trump posts on Truth Social calling for Pirro to reconsider and suggesting evidence against Hearn exists.
Reactions from Hearn’s Lawyers and Attorney General
Hearn’s lawyers, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann, and Steve Levin, called the request “another bizarre turn.” They said in a statement: “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.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche, recently confirmed by the Senate, praised Pirro but equivocated on the dismissal. He said: “I don’t approve or disapprove decisions that our US attorneys make in a general matter, but I’m not going to talk about what we knew about the case or didn’t know about the case. Hypothetically, if the president chose to fire a United States attorney, it turns out he’s allowed to do that because he’s the president of the United States.”
The request from the White House is extraordinary, underscoring Trump’s efforts to control the Justice Department, traditionally operated at arm’s length to maintain impartiality. The case’s future remains uncertain as the DOJ evaluates any potential new charges.
