David Hearn’s vandalism charges have been dismissed with prejudice by a Washington judge, permanently preventing federal prosecutors from bringing the case again despite President Donald Trump’s public calls for it to be revived.
In a 26-page ruling, D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman said the case should be closed in large part because of the “political pressure brought by the President of the United States upon his subordinate officers”.
Hearn, 67, was arrested at the Reflecting Pool in June after parts of its multimillion-dollar blue lining began peeling away. He was charged with felony property destruction and indicted by a grand jury, but pleaded not guilty.
The case changed direction in late July when the office of Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, asked for the charges against Hearn and three other people to be dropped. Prosecutors cited reports from the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service which concluded that the damage had resulted from “botched installation and not vandalism”.
Trump rejected that explanation and urged Ms Pirro to reconsider. The White House directed requests for comment to three of the president’s Truth Social posts from August, in which he blamed vandals and criticised the decision to abandon the prosecution.
Judge Edelman wrote that prosecutors had acknowledged the evidence showed Hearn had committed no crime. He said the president’s statements nevertheless created a risk that the case could be pursued again, either by the current prosecutors yielding to political pressure or by their replacement with officials more willing to do so.
Judge rejects bid to keep case open
The prosecution had sought to leave open the possibility of bringing the case back if new evidence emerged. Hearn’s lawyers argued that the dismissal should instead be final.
In his ruling, Judge Edelman said prosecutors were unable to identify what new evidence could justify a future prosecution. He noted that an assistant US attorney had offered only the response: “I don’t know what the future may bring. None of us do.”
The judge also said the government had admitted it was no longer investigating the matter. Given the existing evidence and the circumstances of the case, he concluded that the prospect of a future prosecution was “practically inconceivable” and “fanciful”.
Trump had attacked Ms Pirro after the charges were dropped, accusing her of having “choked” and “folded like an umbrella”. He also issued personal attacks against Hearn and his legal team, including lawyer Norm Eisen.
Hearn’s lawyers, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann, Steve Levin and Michael Bromwich, called the ruling “a victory for the rule of law and for an innocent American seeking justice”.
“This case never should have been brought in the first place,” they said. “This was a miscarriage of justice, and what happened to Mr. Hearn is an outrage that should shock every American.”
Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist from Maryland, had described the case as “Kafkaesque” and “Orwellian”. He said he had been sustained by support from his local community and others during the proceedings.
The Reflecting Pool was drained after the Fourth of July fireworks and remains empty and fenced off while repairs continue. There is no public timetable for its reopening.
Neither the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia nor the Department of Justice provided comment in time for publication.
