Criminal Justice

Dropped Cases Against Alleged Reflecting Pool Vandals Followed a Rush to Judgment

Trump still seems to think the question of individual guilt or innocence is irrelevant.

Jacob Sullum | 8.5.2026 12:01 AM

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At a press conference on July 2, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said she had "tremendous evidence" proving that David Hearn had deliberately caused more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, making him guilty of a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. That was not true, Pirro admitted last Friday, when she withdrew the charge against Hearn, a 67-year-old former competitive canoeist.

Pirro's embarrassing reversal, which enraged President Donald Trump, could be seen as evidence of her courage in contradicting her boss's claim that damage to the reflecting pool's newly installed liner was caused by vandals, as opposed to the "rushed and botched installation" she described in her motion to dismiss the indictment against Hearn. But it also raises questions about Pirro's decision to charge Hearn given what she knew at the time, which suggests she was keen........

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