Judge Presses DOJ on Trump Push to Reindict Olympian

A D.C. Superior Court judge on Friday pressed federal prosecutors over President Donald Trump's desire to bring new charges against former Olympian David Hearn, questioning what he called a possible "meritless re-prosecution" in the Reflecting Pool case.

Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman pressed Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Spence on how the court could view Trump's public statements about Hearn, Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and Hearn's attorneys as anything other than the president pushing Pirro's office to file new charges.

Spence told the court there was "a public interest in allowing a grand jury at a future date" to consider new evidence and called any discussion of bringing new charges against Hearn premature, CNBC reported from the hearing.

The Friday hearing at the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse in Washington was meant to determine whether the case against Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, should be closed permanently.

Prosecutors are seeking dismissal without prejudice, which would preserve the option to seek a new indictment. Hearn's lawyers want it dismissed with prejudice, closing the matter for good.

Hearn was indicted July 2 on a felony charge of destruction of property after prosecutors alleged he damaged the newly installed pool coating on June 19.

He pleaded not guilty and was scheduled for trial this month, but Pirro's office reversed course on July 31, conceding in a court filing that a "flawed installation" by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings, rushed to meet a July 4 opening tied to the nation's 250th anniversary celebration, was the likely cause.

Prosecutors blamed the Interior Department for not providing key documents before the grand jury voted.

The reversal drew an angry response from Trump, who backed the roughly $14 million no-bid renovation and personally chose the pool's American flag blue coating.

He publicly rebuked Pirro on Aug. 3, telling reporters in the Oval Office that she "folded like an umbrella."

Days later, Trump posted on Truth Social that a National Park Service employee saw Hearn "in broad daylight vandalize the Reflecting Pool," identifying him as an ActBlue supporter in reference to his prior donations to Democrats through the fundraising platform.

Edelman granted the underlying dismissal in early August but deferred the with-prejudice question.

Steve Levin, one of Hearn's attorneys, asked the court why prosecutors are reserving the right to reindict "a case that they've acknowledged should never have been brought," arguing there is no evidence, witness, or defect that could revive it.

Court filings show that a National Park Service engineer warned , within days of the June installation, that the pool's coating was vulnerable to peeling, undercutting the claim that Hearn caused the damage.

Edelman did not rule from the bench, telling parties to expect a decision soon.

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