Federal prosecutors on Friday moved to dismiss the felony charge against former Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn, saying newly obtained documents show the damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was caused by a rushed and flawed installation of the liner, not vandalism.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office filed a 20-page motion in D.C. Superior Court stating that information provided by the Department of the Interior after the indictment pointed to problems with the contractor’s work. The filing described “a rushed and flawed installation process, with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process, and extensive peeling of the lining throughout the Reflecting Pool.”
Prosecutors wrote that the project was hurried to meet deadlines tied to America 250 events 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 motion said.
Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was charged in early July with one count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage. The charge carried a maximum sentence of 10 years. He had pleaded not guilty on July 9, and a trial had been scheduled for September 28.
According to court records and his own account, Hearn stopped at the pool on June 19 during a bike ride. He briefly touched a piece of the peeling liner that was already detached. He was detained for about five hours by National Guard and U.S. Park Police. Hearn has maintained that the condition of the pool was the same when he left as when he arrived.
A National Park Service official later testified that the pool already had significant preexisting problems, including leaks of more than one million gallons of water per week, expansion joints that had exceeded their service life, and a rip in the liner. Repairs would have been required regardless of Hearn’s brief contact with the surface.
Hearn’s attorneys called the decision overdue. “The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” they said in a statement. “The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”
Hearn competed for the United States in three Summer Olympics as a canoeist, with his best finish a ninth place at the 1996 Atlanta Games. He was the only person among several charged in connection with the pool damage to face a felony count.
The Reflecting Pool had undergone a multimillion-dollar renovation that included installing a new liner. Officials had previously described the peeling and floating sections of the liner as deliberate acts of sabotage. The Justice Department’s filing now attributes those problems to installation failures that occurred before Hearn’s visit.
The motion asks the court to dismiss the charge. A judge has not yet ruled on the request.
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