The US justice department recently admitted the “hasty and botched” nature of President Donald Trump’s $14.7 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, dropping criminal charges of vandalism against former Olympian David Hearn.
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Earlier, Trump, along with DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, had publicly accused Hearn, along with three others, of damaging the pool lining, algae blooms and green-hued water in the pool. According to DC court records, charges were dropped against at least one of those people as well on Friday.
Trump had ordered renovations to the 600-metre pool in May, to be completed by the US Independence Day- July four. His renovation efforts drew significant criticism owing to their price and changes that included painting the bottom with "American flag blue".
On June 11, a National Park Service engineer alerted the Interior Department of the peeling, which the prosecutors noted, on Friday, was the same part of the pool liner Hearn was accused of ripping up. Hearn was arrested eight days later and then indicted on July two.
On Friday, Hearn's lawyers said that he "did nothing wrong". The former Olympic canoeist pleaded not guilty this month, while acknowledging he reached into the pool while cycling and touched a piece of pool liner, already detached partially.
According to CNN, the peeling away of the blue linings from the bottom of the pool came more than a week before Hearn visited the landmark.
“The damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by the Department of the Interior (DOI). Indeed, USAO-DC could only rely on the information provided by DOI that the damage was entirely caused by vandals”, Pirro’s office wrote on Friday, accusing several federal agencies, including DOI.
“It was not until after the return of the indictment [of Hearn] that the [Department of Interior] provided additional documents to the [US Attorney’s Office in DC] indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings”, it added.
As per prosecutors, the work was rushed because of the events being hosted on the National Mall for the celebration of the 250th year of American independence.
