Washington
Lawyers in Reflecting Pool case say Justice Department knew case was flawed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department knew or should have known for weeks that its case against a former Olympian charged with intentionally damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was flawed, and that he bore no responsibility for longstanding problems at the landmark, defense lawyers said Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Friday moved to dismiss the indictment against David Hearn, saying in a 20-page filing that newly produced evidence from the Interior Department showed the former Olympic canoeist was not responsible for damage to the pool’s lining.
Pirro’s office attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration” in the weeks surrounding July 4, as directed by President Donald Trump.
Lawyers for Hearn on Tuesday urged a judge to permanently dismiss the case and foreclose the possibility that the Trump administration could revive it. They took issue with Pirro’s assertion that prosecutors only recently learned about the pre-existing defects at the pool, saying the government had “disregarded readily available evidence” that the liner was already failing because of installation flaws.
“From the outset, the evidence showed that the pool liner was already failing and that Mr. Hearn did not cause the damage alleged in the indictment,’’ Hearn’s legal team argued in a 28-page motion filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.
The poor condition of the pool was “plainly visible” for weeks and was publicly documented through photographs, video and news reports, the lawyers wrote.
“Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge,” the defense attorneys wrote.
In addition, they say, the government’s key eyewitness was never presented to the grand jury, and a key prosecution witness on the question of damages “stated that the repairs at issue would have been necessary regardless of Mr. Hearn’s alleged conduct and could not identify any additional cost caused by Mr. Hearn.”
The contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, “publicly acknowledged, before Mr. Hearn was indicted, that portions of the project required repair,” the lawyers said. The firm was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.
A spokesperson for Pirro’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Trump continued to insist on Tuesday night that the pool had been vandalized and defended the contractors.
“They did a beautiful job,” Trump said. “There were a couple of little things, but that was not a big deal. And everybody saw the vandalism. All you have to do is look at the tape.”
The president said that Pirro was “totally wrong.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has backed Trump’s claims that vandals damaged the pool.
The dismissal of charges against Hearn was an embarrassing setback for the Justice Department and marked a rare moment during Trump’s second term of an aide or political appointee openly defying him.
Hearn has said he was on a bike ride June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
Felony charges, including a possible 10-year prison sentence, were brought “without a meaningful investigation into the central and obvious question in this case: whether Mr. Hearn caused, or even could have caused, any damage to the Reflecting Pool,’’ Hearn’s lawyers said.
Wisconsin
Judge rules that paper absentee ballots violate rights of certain disabled people
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Absentee voting in Wisconsin discriminates against disabled voters, a judge ruled Tuesday, siding with groups that are seeking to force election officials to allow for electronic casting of ballots.
But Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell stopped short of ordering electronic voting, setting up a trial on that issue later. It almost certainly will not be resolved before the November election.
Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters and four disabled voters brought the lawsuit in 2024. They argued that the lack of an electronic absentee voting option violated their right to independence and privacy and the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mitchell issued a temporary injunction in 2024, saying that disabled voters should have the option to vote electronically. But an appeals court reversed that ruling, sending it back to the lower court, saying it was wrong to issue a temporary injunction that would have changed and “significantly disrupted the status quo.”
The Republican-controlled Legislature is fighting the lawsuit.
Mitchell ruled on Tuesday that the state’s absentee ballot program, which requires voters to complete and return a ballot on paper, denies disabled people “the equal opportunity to vote absentee privately and independently.”
The judge declined to order elections officials to offer electronic ballots to qualified disabled voters, saying the parties still disputed whether that was a reasonable remedy. The judge noted that those included the difficulty of instituting such a program and the risks involved.
Under his previous ruling, made before more facts in the case were presented, Mitchell said that voters who self-certify that they can’t read or mark a paper ballot without help would be eligible to request an electronic ballot.
Absentee ballots are currently emailed to military and overseas voters from Wisconsin.
Neither those who brought the lawsuit nor the Wisconsin Elections Commission had any estimates of how many disabled voters would request absentee ballots electronically.
Spokespeople for the elections commission and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which represented the commission, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
A hearing on the case is set for Aug. 12, where a potential trial date could be set.
Lawyers in Reflecting Pool case say Justice Department knew case was flawed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department knew or should have known for weeks that its case against a former Olympian charged with intentionally damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was flawed, and that he bore no responsibility for longstanding problems at the landmark, defense lawyers said Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Friday moved to dismiss the indictment against David Hearn, saying in a 20-page filing that newly produced evidence from the Interior Department showed the former Olympic canoeist was not responsible for damage to the pool’s lining.
Pirro’s office attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration” in the weeks surrounding July 4, as directed by President Donald Trump.
Lawyers for Hearn on Tuesday urged a judge to permanently dismiss the case and foreclose the possibility that the Trump administration could revive it. They took issue with Pirro’s assertion that prosecutors only recently learned about the pre-existing defects at the pool, saying the government had “disregarded readily available evidence” that the liner was already failing because of installation flaws.
“From the outset, the evidence showed that the pool liner was already failing and that Mr. Hearn did not cause the damage alleged in the indictment,’’ Hearn’s legal team argued in a 28-page motion filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.
The poor condition of the pool was “plainly visible” for weeks and was publicly documented through photographs, video and news reports, the lawyers wrote.
“Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge,” the defense attorneys wrote.
In addition, they say, the government’s key eyewitness was never presented to the grand jury, and a key prosecution witness on the question of damages “stated that the repairs at issue would have been necessary regardless of Mr. Hearn’s alleged conduct and could not identify any additional cost caused by Mr. Hearn.”
The contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, “publicly acknowledged, before Mr. Hearn was indicted, that portions of the project required repair,” the lawyers said. The firm was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.
A spokesperson for Pirro’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Trump continued to insist on Tuesday night that the pool had been vandalized and defended the contractors.
“They did a beautiful job,” Trump said. “There were a couple of little things, but that was not a big deal. And everybody saw the vandalism. All you have to do is look at the tape.”
The president said that Pirro was “totally wrong.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has backed Trump’s claims that vandals damaged the pool.
The dismissal of charges against Hearn was an embarrassing setback for the Justice Department and marked a rare moment during Trump’s second term of an aide or political appointee openly defying him.
Hearn has said he was on a bike ride June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
Felony charges, including a possible 10-year prison sentence, were brought “without a meaningful investigation into the central and obvious question in this case: whether Mr. Hearn caused, or even could have caused, any damage to the Reflecting Pool,’’ Hearn’s lawyers said.
Wisconsin
Judge rules that paper absentee ballots violate rights of certain disabled people
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Absentee voting in Wisconsin discriminates against disabled voters, a judge ruled Tuesday, siding with groups that are seeking to force election officials to allow for electronic casting of ballots.
But Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell stopped short of ordering electronic voting, setting up a trial on that issue later. It almost certainly will not be resolved before the November election.
Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters and four disabled voters brought the lawsuit in 2024. They argued that the lack of an electronic absentee voting option violated their right to independence and privacy and the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mitchell issued a temporary injunction in 2024, saying that disabled voters should have the option to vote electronically. But an appeals court reversed that ruling, sending it back to the lower court, saying it was wrong to issue a temporary injunction that would have changed and “significantly disrupted the status quo.”
The Republican-controlled Legislature is fighting the lawsuit.
Mitchell ruled on Tuesday that the state’s absentee ballot program, which requires voters to complete and return a ballot on paper, denies disabled people “the equal opportunity to vote absentee privately and independently.”
The judge declined to order elections officials to offer electronic ballots to qualified disabled voters, saying the parties still disputed whether that was a reasonable remedy. The judge noted that those included the difficulty of instituting such a program and the risks involved.
Under his previous ruling, made before more facts in the case were presented, Mitchell said that voters who self-certify that they can’t read or mark a paper ballot without help would be eligible to request an electronic ballot.
Absentee ballots are currently emailed to military and overseas voters from Wisconsin.
Neither those who brought the lawsuit nor the Wisconsin Elections Commission had any estimates of how many disabled voters would request absentee ballots electronically.
Spokespeople for the elections commission and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which represented the commission, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
A hearing on the case is set for Aug. 12, where a potential trial date could be set.
