Will there be a new criminal trial? Government exploring alternatives to prosecute David Hearn in Reflecting Pool case

The White House has initiated formal consultations with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assess the feasibility of filing a new criminal case against David Hearn, the former Olympic athlete previously charged with vandalizing the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.

This move comes weeks after the U.S. Attorney's Office decided to drop the initial charges, sparking an internal debate over the preservation of public heritage and the limits of criminal prosecution in the nation's capital.

According to an original report by The Wall Street Journal, later corroborated by various government sources, the exploratory deliberations focused on the possibility of reframing the charges as misdemeanors.

This strategy would avoid the need to convene a grand jury, facilitating a new path to prosecution.

Institutional disagreement and evidence boxes

The controversy arose when U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro dismissed the charge of aggravated destruction of government property against Hearn.

The prosecution argued that recent expert reports showed that the damage to the pool sealant—a renovation project spearheaded by the administration—was due to "defective installation" by a contractor and not to an act of sabotage.

The decision sparked discontent from President Trump, who made his position clear on Truth Social, saying there "may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!" The president added his complete disagreement with the criteria applied by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool," the president emphasized.

After a weekend of public scrutiny, Pirro appeared at the White House carrying boxes containing evidence gathered by the Department of the Interior that exonerated Hearn and three other defendants, against whom charges for minor offenses were also dropped.

The legal limbo of the case

Although a judge from the D.C. Superior Court formally closed the case file, the judiciary postponed the ruling on whether the dismissal is final with or without prejudice—a technical aspect that will determine whether the felony case can be reopened in the medium term. The defense teams are already coordinating the submission of new reports scheduled for the end of the summer season.

For its part, the legal team representing the former Olympian criticized the insistence of the administration's political wing to prolong the litigation. Michael Bromwich, Hearn's defense attorney, questioned in a statement sent to CBS News the institutional resources invested in the case.

"The case was dismissed because there was no evidence to support charging Mr. Hearn," the attorney asserted. "That won't change with more people spending more time to figure out a way to salvage it. At some point DOJ should simply cut its losses and pursue actual criminal activity rather than continue to harass Mr. Hearn."

The White House, for the time being, has not issued any definitive statements regarding subsequent courses of action.