David Hearn’s reflecting pool case now turns on an awkward detail from the government’s own presentation: according to his lawyers, a grand jury witness said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was already damaged before Hearn touched it.
Lawyers for Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympic canoeist who represented the United States at three Olympic Games, filed papers Monday seeking grand jury materials in the federal vandalism case, NBC News reported. The filing asks for transcripts of the testimony and the instructions prosecutors gave to the panel that indicted him.
Hearn’s legal team says the proceedings showed “irregularities,” according to the filing cited by NBC News. Their central point is blunt: the only witness who testified about damage, described as an unidentified National Park Service official, allegedly told the grand jury the relevant area had already been damaged and would have needed repairs anyway.
What is David Hearn accused of?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office accused Hearn of felony vandalism tied to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. According to the account cited in the filing, authorities allege Hearn put his hands in the water and damaged two square feet of sealant.
The charge matters because felony destruction of property requires at least $1,000 in damage, Hearn’s lawyers argued in the filing. They say the grand jury may not have been properly instructed on that requirement, especially if the government’s own damage witness said the pool had already been compromised before Hearn interacted with it.
A grand jury does not decide guilt. It decides whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring an indictment, and the defense is not in the room to cross-examine witnesses or present a competing case. That makes the request for transcripts and jury instructions more than housekeeping. Hearn’s lawyers are trying to see how prosecutors got from that testimony to a felony indictment.
The case grew out of a troubled makeover of the reflecting pool. The New York Times reported that Trump used a no-bid arrangement involving people who had previously worked on his private pools. PBS reported that Trump later drove across unfinished sealant in a motorcade. NPR reported that after the pool was refilled, the blue coating was followed by algae and peeling sealant.
Trump then blamed vandalism for the condition of the pool. FactCheck.org described his claims about the vandalism as unsupported, while The Hill reported that Trump alleged vandals had cut a 150- to 350-foot gash in the sealant. Pirro’s case against Hearn, as described in the filing, concerns a much smaller alleged area: two square feet.
The filing does not resolve whether Hearn committed any crime. It asks the court to let the defense inspect what happened inside the grand jury room, including testimony and legal instructions. If the judge grants the motion, the defense could use those records to challenge the indictment or argue that prosecutors failed to show the damage needed for a felony charge.
For now, the confirmed fact is narrower and more damaging to the government than the public vandalism narrative: according to Hearn’s lawyers, the National Park Service witness who addressed damages said the pool was already in bad shape before Hearn put his hands in the water.
This story draws on original reporting from Techdirt.
