A key witness in the case against a former Olympian charged with vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool admitted that the landmark was already damaged—and would have needed thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs anyway.
The president spent months hyping his renovations of the famed monument, only for the $16 million “repairs” to result in peeling blue sealant and a record-breaking algal bloom that turned the water slime green.
Instead of blaming the companies that received no-bid contracts to complete the work, Trump claimed the damage was the work of vandals and ordered a law-enforcement blitz at the site.
Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was arrested and charged with felony destruction of property—a charge that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison—after he stopped at the Reflecting Pool during a bike ride and put his hand in the water.
But during the grand jury proceedings that led to his indictment, the sole government witness who testified about the damage Hearn allegedly caused “could not quantify any loss” attributable to Hearn’s conduct, according to a new court filing from Hearn’s legal team.
The witness, who was not identified, testified the property was already damaged before Hearn touched it, and that about $6,000 to $15,000 was needed to fix the immediate area.
Those repairs would have still been necessary “before the defendant interacted with the pool,” according to the witness, who could not answer a grand juror’s question about the difference in estimated costs before and after Hearn’s actions, according to the filing.
“Simply put, the government’s witness could not identify any additional cost caused by Mr. Hearn’s alleged conduct,” the filing said. “Indeed, the witness did not even say or suggest that the alleged conduct had compromised the liner at all.”
The testimony was included in partial grand jury transcripts provided to the defense, which is now seeking the full transcripts and legal instructions provided to the grand jurors.
The witness’ answers raised questions about whether the grand jury was properly instructed about elements of the case—including the fact that the felony charge required Hearn to have caused more than $1,000 in damages, Hearn’s lawyers argued.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
The case was brought by the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, which is headed by former Fox News host and staunch Trump ally Jeanine Pirro.
Over the past several months, federal judges have found that prosecutors with Trump’s DOJ engaged in—and at times tried to cover up—grand jury misconduct, including improperly speaking to jurors outside the courtroom, coaching them on the evidence presented, and dismissing grand jurors who refused to indict defendants.
In asking for the release of the full transcripts, Hearn’s lawyers argued that the historic “presumption of regularity” afforded by courts to the DOJ “has been thoroughly eroded by current Department leadership, including in the District of Columbia.”
The DOJ has previously said that reported cases of jury misconduct were isolated incidents that did not reflect on the department’s overall record.
