WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Justice Department knew or should have known for weeks that its case against a former Olympian charged with intentionally damaging the was flawed, and that he bore no responsibility for longstanding problems at the landmark, defense lawyers said Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Friday against David Hearn, saying in a 20-page filing that newly produced evidence from the Interior Department showed the former Olympic canoeist was not responsible for damage to the pool’s lining.
Pirro鈥檚 office attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as 鈥渢he rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration鈥� in the weeks surrounding July 4, as directed by President Donald Trump.
Lawyers for Hearn on Tuesday urged a judge to permanently dismiss the case and foreclose the possibility that the Trump administration could revive it. They took issue with Pirro’s assertion that prosecutors only recently learned about the pre-existing defects at the pool, saying the government had 鈥渄isregarded readily available evidence鈥� that the liner was already failing because of installation flaws.
鈥淔rom the outset, the evidence showed that the pool liner was already failing and that Mr. Hearn did not cause the damage alleged in the indictment,” Hearn’s legal team argued in a 28-page motion filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.
The poor condition of the pool was 鈥減lainly visible鈥� for weeks and was publicly documented through photographs, video and news reports, the lawyers wrote.
鈥淒efying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge,鈥� the defense attorneys wrote.
In addition, they say, the government’s key eyewitness was never presented to the grand jury, and a key prosecution witness on the question of damages 鈥渟tated that the repairs at issue would have been necessary regardless of Mr. Hearn’s alleged conduct and could not identify any additional cost caused by Mr. Hearn.鈥�
The contractor, Virginia-based , 鈥減ublicly acknowledged, before Mr. Hearn was indicted, that portions of the project required repair,鈥� the lawyers said. The firm was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.
A spokesperson for Pirro鈥檚 office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Trump said Monday that Pirro 鈥渃hoked鈥� and 鈥渇olded like an umbrella鈥� in moving to drop charges against Hearn. Trump, who met with Pirro late Monday, said he remained disappointed by her assessment that damage to the Reflecting Pool was the result of shoddy construction, not vandalism. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has backed Trump’s claims that vandals damaged the pool.
The dismissal of charges against Hearn was an embarrassing setback for the Justice Department and marked a rare moment during Trump鈥檚 second term of an aide or political appointee openly defying him.
Hearn has said he was on a bike ride June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool鈥檚 newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
Felony charges, including a possible 10-year prison sentence, were brought 鈥渨ithout a meaningful investigation into the central and obvious question in this case: whether Mr. Hearn caused, or even could have caused, any damage to the Reflecting Pool,” Hearn’s lawyers said.
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