Lawyers urge watchdogs to examine Reflecting Pool case against ex-Olympian

Lawyers for a former U.S. Olympian cleared of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are asking federal watchdogs to investigate how the Justice Department built a felony case against him before prosecutors concluded he was not responsible.

Attorneys for David Hearn on Tuesday sent a letter to the inspectors general at the DOJ and Interior Department asking the watchdogs to look into what they describe as a flawed investigation and prosecution, alleging officials overlooked critical evidence and rushed to charge Hearn amid pressure from President Trump.

The complaint comes days D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Eldeman permanently dismissed the case against the former Olympian, describing it as a “lightning-fast indictment process” and barred the DOJ from trying to charge him again in the future.

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Edelman found that there was a “unique possibility” that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office would likely attempt to revive the case against him due to “political pressure” from Trump to prosecute suspected vandals.

“In light of these findings and the government’s own admissions, a critical purpose of the requested investigations is to collect the facts — through witness interviews and the collection and analysis of electronic media and documents — necessary to hold accountable the individuals and groups who failed Mr. Hearn, the criminal justice system, and the public,” Hearn’s lawyers wrote in their letter.

Hearn, 67, had been charged with felony property destruction in June after he was arrested and accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool’s newly installed liner.

Pirro moved to drop the charge weeks later after evidence from the Interior Department showed Hearn did not cause the damage, and that the issue stemmed from problems with the pool’s multi-million dollar renovation and accelerated efforts to complete the project ahead of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.

Hearn’s attorneys now argue that evidence cleaning him was available to the government well before prosecutors abandoned the case.

“The record reflects an indictment obtained through unusual haste and a prosecution shaped from the outset by political pressure and built on an inadequate investigation,” his lawyers wrote.