Federal prosecutors dismissed the vandalism case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn on Friday, August 3, 2026, over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool's new $14 million lining. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia filed a 20-page motion asking for the dismissal, which the judge granted.

Prosecutors then dropped charges against three other individuals facing misdemeanor counts related to the Reflecting Pool damage, according to NPR, which confirmed the developments through lawyers and court filings.

The U.S. Attorney's Office wrote that newly released evidence from the Department of the Interior made it difficult to prove vandalism beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors attributed the damage to a faulty installation by a contractor chosen by President Trump, rather than to vandalism.

The Department of Justice said it only learned that the damage stemmed from a botched installation after the vandalism case had already been brought, according to NBC News.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro blamed the Department of the Interior for releasing key evidence only recently — after grand jury proceedings and following dozens of requests by her office.

According to Pirro, Interior Department documents showed the damage resulted from flawed installation by the contractor and a rush to finish the project before events tied to the America 250 celebration around Independence Day 2026. Pirro said rain, wind, and delays in obtaining the sealing product led to hasty installation work that went uncorrected before the Reflecting Pool was refilled in early June 2026.

Within days of the refilling, algae turned the water green.

Hearn, a 67-year-old Maryland resident, was the only person indicted by a grand jury over damage to the Reflecting Pool. He pleaded not guilty to a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage and said he simply touched a loose piece out of curiosity.

Pirro had earlier echoed the vandalism allegations against Hearn before reversing course in her Friday court filing, according to the New York Times.

The case highlighted a conflict between the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of the Interior over the timing and quality of evidence production. Pirro's office obtained a grand jury indictment and pursued felony charges against at least one person before receiving what prosecutors now describe as evidence showing the damage was caused by installation failures, not vandalism.

The broader context here is that this sequence raises questions about what evidence was presented to the grand jury and whether the Interior Department adequately disclosed information during the proceedings. The DOJ itself acknowledged that key exculpatory evidence — evidence that tends to show a defendant's innocence — surfaced only after charges were filed.

Pirro's statement that Interior released the evidence 'after the grand jury proceedings and following dozens of requests' suggests a prolonged dispute between the two federal agencies over document production during an active criminal case.

Pirro, who publicly backed the vandalism narrative before reversing course in a 20-page court filing, placed the blame on both the contractor and the Interior Department's handling of evidence.

The dismissal closes the criminal phase of the Reflecting Pool matter. The friction between DOJ and Interior over accountability for the project's failures remains visible in the court record.