Trump DOJ's botched prosecution 'anathema' to the office it came from: former prosecutor

A former Jack Smith prosecutor said the Justice Department's prosecution of an Olympian was "anathema" to the very office that brought the case.

During a Saturday interview on the Legal AF podcast, Mary Dorman talked about how the DOJ she knew would feel about the case against Davey Hearn, who was indicted for allegedly touching the damaged Reflecting Pool. Dorman is Hearn's co-counsel and is a principal at the Washington Litigation Group. She also served on Jack Smith's special counsel team.

The DOJ moved to dismiss its charges against Hearn after it conceded it couldn't prove that Hearn damaged the lining, though Dorman noted that the case can still come back. She said the prosecution violated everything the office she "grew up in" once represented.

"It is anathema to anything that I would have done or my leaders when I was in the office would have done," Dorman said. "It can't be overstated."

She described the charge as an abuse of prosecutorial power against an ordinary person.

"This is an innocent man. This is an ordinary citizen who's done extraordinary things like many Americans," Dorman said. "And the government brought its full weight to prosecuting a victimless alleged offense that never occurred."

Dorman said the DOJ moved to dismiss only because "they know they cannot win in court where facts and law matter." However, she called out the Trump administration for dropping the case without prejudice, which leaves the DOJ free to recharge Hearn later, and suggested another name for the move.

"Beating a dead horse is too kind of a phrase," she said. "It really is harassment."

Dorman, a former prosecutor, said the current DOJ had abandoned the "sacred oath" of protecting defendants' rights.

"When you have people who are not experienced and are incompetent at best and who...have bad intent and bad faith at worst, there's no chance of those rights being protected," she said.