Case: United States of America v. David Hearn

This criminal case arose from the Trump administration’s claim that the failures of the renovated lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool were the result of vandalism. 

According to news reports, on March 31, 2026, the National Park Service approved the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflection Pool, permitting a new “American flag blue” liner to be installed ahead of “America 250” events in Washington, D.C. The government subsequently awarded a no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings (Atlantic) for approximately $6.89 million, though the total estimated cost upon completion was about $16 million. In June 2026, the pool was refilled and opened to the public, but quickly developed green algae blooms and received significant public criticism. 

On June 19, 2026, it was reported that U.S. Park Police detained David Carter Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympic canoeist from Bethesda, Maryland, at the Reflecting Pool. According to the police report, National Park Service employees saw Hearn kneel, put both hands into the water, and rip and tug at a section of the pool's blue lining, and continue pulling after they told him to stop. When an officer asked Hearn if he had been peeling the lining, he said no, and that he had only reached in to feel the water temperature and had grabbed at a piece of material that was already flapping loose.

On July 2, 2026, a D.C. Superior Court grand jury indicted Hearn on one felony count of destruction of property in violation of D.C. Code Section 22-303, alleging that he "maliciously did injure, break and destroy" the pool's lining material and caused damage in the amount of $1,000 or more. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the charge, and the case was assigned to Judge Todd E. Edelman. Hearn was arraigned on July 9, 2026, and pleaded not guilty. As he left the courtroom that day, an investigator from the U.S. Attorney's Office seized his cell phone under a warrant.

Hearn was represented by the Washington Litigation Group and Democracy Defenders Fund. Over the next three weeks, the defense filed a series of motions. On July 10, 2026, Hearn moved under Superior Court Rule 41(g) for return of his phone and to compel production of metadata for the two photographs used in the seizure warrant affidavit, arguing that the affidavit had omitted a photograph Hearn took before touching the pool that, in the defense's view, showed the damage to the lining already existed. On July 16, 2026, Hearn moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the government had drained and begun repairing the pool -- the central physical evidence -- despite a written preservation demand, and asked in the alternative for an evidentiary hearing. On July 27, 2026, he moved for disclosure of the grand jury minutes and legal instructions, arguing that the government's only damages witness had testified that the same repairs would have been required regardless of Hearn's conduct and could not quantify any loss attributable to him.

On July 28, 2026, after the government produced two additional pages of that witness's grand jury transcript that had been "inadvertently left off," Hearn supplemented the motion. The supplement stated that prosecutors had excused the witness and recalled him twenty-one minutes later, eliciting the assertion that the damage attributable to Hearn "would definitely be $1,000 or more." The government moved to seal the supplement; Hearn opposed the same day. The record contains no ruling on the sealing motion, and the defense later stated that the government had "seemingly abandoned that sealing effort."

On July 31, 2026, the government moved to dismiss the case without prejudice, citing records produced by the Department of the Interior (DOI) after Hearn had been indicted. The government explained that the initial reports it received from the DOI, U.S. Park Police, and the U.S. Attorney's Office presented evidence to the grand jury that indicated the damage to the pool was caused by vandalism. The government noted that U.S. Attorney Pirro and other U.S. Attorney employees visited the Reflection Pool after a defense expert had inspected it on July 17, 2026, and it was clear that there was extensive damage to the lining throughout; it was at this time that the U.S. Attorneys’ Office reportedly first became aware of the issue. It was then that the government requested records pertaining to the installation of the lining, which established that the damage to the Reflection Pool was the result of the flawed installation of the lining by Atlantic in a rush to have it completed prior to the America 250 events. In the following days, President Trump criticized this motion, saying that Pirro had “choked” and “folded like an umbrella”. 

On August 4, 2026, Hearn filed his response to the government’s motion. He did not oppose dismissal of the case, but requested that it be dismissed with prejudice, arguing that if the case was permitted to be refiled, it would expose him to continued harassment and bad faith re-prosecution based on discredited allegations. Additionally, Hearn argued that the government was aware of issues with the Reflecting Pool’s liner, citing a June 30, 2026, “Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Damage Assessment”, which detailed the area associated with Hearn’s arrest as a “major failure point,” citing visible bond-breaker tape and exposed concrete. It also noted that damage had been present in the pool as early as June 8, 2026. Hearn asked the court to order disclosure of grand jury materials or to review them in camera prior to ruling on the motion to dismiss if it determined more information was necessary prior to making a decision. 

On August 6, 2026, Judge Edelman granted the government's motion in part and dismissed the case, but held in abeyance both the government's request for dismissal without prejudice and Hearn's request for dismissal with prejudice. The court set a briefing schedule requiring the government to reply by August 18, 2026, and the defense within seven days of this filing, with a hearing to be scheduled following this briefing.

Three other people arrested at the Reflecting Pool in June 2026, who pleaded not guilty had misdemeanor destruction of property charges dropped within days of the government's motion in this case.

As of August 11, 2026, the indictment has been dismissed, but whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice remains pending. This case is ongoing.