Finally. Now, it doesn’t matter what Trump wants his DOJ minions to do. If he’s going to try to pin a botched repair job on people who just happened to stick a hand into his algae-infested, liner chunk-filled Reflecting Pool/metaphor for his entire presidency, he’s going to have to stick it to someone other than former Olympian David Hearn.
The DOJ went about as honest as it possibly could under these Trumpian circumstances when US Attorney Jeanine Pirro moved to dismiss the vandalism case against David Hearn after discovering the Department of Interior had withheld information on the source of the pool’s many, many problems. The true source of the damage was Atlantic Industrial Coating’s rushed refurbishing, which not only led to plenty of liner separation, but also to some truly spectacular algae growth acceleration.
One of the government’s own witnesses made this clear during the grand jury proceedings. Somehow, the grand jury still decided the DOJ could move forward with Trump’s petty revenge plan — one that sought to hold regular citizens responsible for his own failures.
What the DOJ didn’t do, however, was dismiss the case with prejudice. It certainly had every reason to do so, but it chose not to. And that only encouraged Trump to suggest he’d just find a better loyalist to re-open the case.
Well, that’s not going to happen now. The court handling the case has done what the Trump loyalists in the DOJ refused to do: shut it down permanently. (h/t Kyle Cheney)
The dismissal [PDF] swiftly (and pointedly) discusses the background of the case, which necessarily recounts the president’s refusal to take the L. (Emphasis in the original.)
In July 2026, the United States secured an indictment against Defendant David C. Hearn for felony destruction of property based upon allegations that he had damaged the lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Within a month, the government recognized that its prosecution lacked merit. It reached this conclusion not because it had misidentified Mr. Hearn as the perpetrator of the alleged act, but because no crime had occurred: the observed damage to the Reflecting Pool was due to a contractor’s “rushed and botched” installation of the lining while conducting renovations, and Mr. Hearn’s actions had no effect on the value of the Pool.
While the DOJ more often than not dismisses cases without prejudice, it had no reason to believe it could actually bring a credible case at some point in the future — not with what it had stated in court during its motion to dismiss. That it chose not to accept Hearn’s motion to dismiss with prejudice was similarly stupid, prompting the court to demand an explanation in person from DOJ lawyers.
The court isn’t going to let the DOJ keep Hearn dangling until Trump leaves office/the statute of limitations expires. There’s no case here now, says the court. And there’s no case waiting further up the road, either.
While the government wishes to hold open the possibility of the development of evidence that would support a future prosecution, its own representations make plain that such a possibility is theoretical at best, and more likely, is simply fanciful.
What makes this different from dozens of other dismissals without prejudice by the DOJ is that this isn’t the DOJ just hedging its bets. There’s the real and persistent threat that Trump’s DOJ will try again, no matter how “theoretical” or “fanciful” the case will be. That’s because Trump has been applying pressure since the first dismissal and openly stated he’s going to try again as soon as he can find someone willing to do this particularly dirty work.
These unique facts mean the court can’t stand idly by and hope Trump and/or his DOJ find something better to do with their time. Hearn was absolved by the DOJ’s own admissions. There’s no reason he needs to spend the next six years living under the threat of possible prosecution.
The Court respects the authority of the Office of the United States Attorney to decide which cases to prosecute and which to dismiss. However, in the exceptional circumstances posed by this case, the government has no right to retain the ability to compound the errors it has already made, or even to threaten to do so, at Mr. Hearn’s expense.
That’s it. This case is permanently closed. And everything admitted to by the DOJ and the pool contractor itself should hopefully result in dismissals of charges against the other handful of people rounded up by the DOJ to satisfy Trump’s braying bloodlust.