The Department of Justice dropped the case against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in a court filing on July 31.
Court documents reveal that after Hearn was indicted, the Department of the Interior provided additional documents to prosecutors which showed that damage in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings.
According to Friday’s filing, the flawed installation happened during “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”
A defense expert inspected the pool when it was drained, to fix the damage, on July 17 with United States Attorney Jeanine Pirro and staffers and “immediately noted extensive damage.”
The discovery prompted them to dive deeper into installation documents, which showed there were “repeated failures of the lining during the installation process,” according to court docs.
“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” the 20-page filing by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.
Hearn’s lawyers said in a statement that the case should have never been brought.
“Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong,” the statement read. “The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”
The athlete, who previously owned a company that manufactured materials for vessels and competed in the Summer Olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000, denied allegations that he intentionally tried to damage the pool.
Hearn previously said that he only reached into the water to inspect a section after he saw that the coating was already peeling.
The patriotic pool is nearly 2,030 feet long, 167 feet wide, and can be as deep as 30 inches at its center.
The Maryland-born competitor’s trial was expected to start on Sept. 28 in D.C. Superior Court before the case was dropped on Friday.
