Trump Responds After DOJ Throws Interior Dept Under Bus In Dismissing ‘Botched’ Reflecting Pool Case
The Department of Justice dropped charges late Friday against an Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the National Mall's Reflecting Pool and instead dismissed another Trump administration department's claims over its condition.
Anthony Iafrate · Aug 1, 2026 · 5 min read

The Department of Justice dropped charges late Friday against an Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool and instead dismissed another Trump administration department’s claims over its condition.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro filed a motion to dismiss her office’s July 2 second-degree felony indictment against three-time Olympian David Hearn, 67, NBC News reported. Hearn was arrested in June by U.S. Park Police (USPP) after officers spotted him inspecting the iconic pool’s apparently peeling lining. In her motion, Pirro — a former Fox News host and noted ally of President Donald Trump — said the Department of the Interior (DOI), which oversees the USPP, had presented a misleading case to the Justice Department (DOJ).
Trump, shortly thereafter, doubled down on the argument that the pool’s condition was “VANDALISM [sic],” indicating he disagreed “100%” with his appointee in a Saturday post to Truth Social.




