U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro argued this week that her nixed Reflecting Pool case had faced "sabotage" — in the form of evidence, court records show.
The case centers on former Olympic canoeist David Carter Hearn, 67, whom Pirro indicted on a felony charge of destruction of property on July 2. Pirro filed the government's reply brief on Aug. 18, fighting to keep the option of re-charging him open.
Associate Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the indictment on Aug. 6 but did not rule on whether that dismissal would be permanent. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
In the filing on Tuesday, Pirro's office told the court that newly produced records from the Department of the Interior arrived too late to use at trial.
"The late provided documents showing blistering and peeling, as noted by contractors, would sabotage the government's ability to meet its burden of proof," the filing said.
However, Pirro argued that permanently closing the case — a dismissal "with prejudice" — was not warranted.
"Should the case be re-presented to a new grand jury based on newly discovered evidence, any reindictment of the case would not constitute harassment," the filing insisted. "Dismissal with prejudice is not necessary to protect the defendant from any future risk of prosecutorial overreach here."
Central to Pirro's argument was a June 11, 2026, email from a National Park Service engineer that her office said it did not learn about until after the indictment. The engineer's email described a contractor's explanation for why the pool liner was already peeling before Hearn arrived.
"[T]he contractor stated that the peeled area was 'overspray' from spraying the perimeter joint with polyurea," the filing said.
The engineer also expressed concern, according to Pirro's office, "that this 'overspray' along the perimeter of the pool could lead to a 1'-2' strip that is vulnerable to peeling."
"These statements cast significant doubt that the defendant caused damage to the lining," Pirro's filing conceded.
"[T]he evidence shows and we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool," Pirro told reporters on July 2 — six weeks before her own filing conceded the evidence had collapsed.
Pirro's latest filing did not fully abandon the vandalism theory, noting it "does not suggest that there was no vandalism to other areas of the Reflecting Pool."
Hearn's attorneys filed their own brief arguing that the Trump administration had kept pushing a version of events the government's own filings had already disproved.
"Executive Branch officials have continued to advance the narrative — contrary to the evidence and the filings of record in this case — that Mr. Hearn vandalized the Reflecting Pool," his attorneys wrote.
"The statements further underscore that dismissal with prejudice is necessary to protect Mr. Hearn from the substantial risk of renewed prosecution," the filing said.
The hearing is scheduled for September 4 before Judge Edelman.
