President Donald Trump on Friday urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to revisit the recently dropped felony vandalism charges over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, posting photos and commentary on Truth Social.
In the post, Trump shared photos from a freelance photographer and wrote that “people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool,” adding that “people were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the ‘slashes.'” He also accused the man involved of ties to ActBlue and being represented by lawyer Norm Eisen and CREW, calling for Pirro to “re-visit her hastily made decision,” according to the Truth Social post.
Former Olympian David Hearn was indicted July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property. The U.S. Park Police alleged Hearn grabbed and tugged at a loose section of the pool’s coating on June 19 and continued after a National Park Service employee told him to stop, and officials initially said the damage exceeded $1,000.
Pirro’s office said the Department of the Interior initially provided prosecutors with “barebones” reports and failed to disclose records documenting problems with the coating’s installation. Prosecutors wrote that additional documents provided after the return of the indictment indicated the June damage was the result of flawed installation by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings and a rush to finish work before America 250 events.
The Justice Department said the new evidence made it difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn caused the damage and prosecutors asked a court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice. Hearn’s attorneys — Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin — issued a statement calling the case an “abuse of government power,” according to the New York Post. Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and Reuters contributed to this report.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
