Judge formally dismisses Reflecting Pool charge against Olympian

Court Battles Judge formally dismisses Reflecting Pool charge against Olympian Comments: by Zach Schonfeld - 08/06/26 6:09 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Zach Schonfeld - 08/06/26 6:09 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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A local judge in Washington, D.C., on Thursday formally dismissed the felony charge accusing Olympic canoeist David Hearn of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro backed away from the case.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman will decide later whether prosecutors can try to charge him again down the road.

“Given the positions of the parties, the Court discerns no reason why this felony case should remain pending against Mr. Hearn while the parties litigate, and the Court resolves, the remaining legal issues,” Edelman wrote.

Pirro’s office last Friday backed away from its indictment of Hearn that accused him of felony destruction of property during a visit to the recently renovated Reflecting Pool. President Trump has repeatedly discussed Hearn’s case as evidence that vandals have disrupted the project.

The dropped prosecution has led to a rare, public break between the president and Pirro, a former Fox News host who now leads the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.

Her office has cast blame on the government contractor for overspraying at the Reflecting Pool and the Interior Department for not being more forthcoming in its investigation. Trump has still insisted the damage was the result of vandals and said Pirro “choked because the judge was really vicious.”

Edelman, the judge, was nominated to the bench by former President Obama. Though his order Thursday officially drops the charge against Hearn, the judge has yet to decide whether it will be dismissed with prejudice. That would prevent the Justice Department from trying to bring the charge against Hearn again.

That’s what Hearn wants, but Pirro hopes to leave the door open.

“Both parties thus agree that the case against Mr. Hearn should be dismissed; they disagree as to the nature of that dismissal,” Edelman noted in his order.

He’ll hold a hearing after both sides submit additional written briefs later this month.

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