MAGA prosecutor Jeanine Pirro has been permanently banned from bringing charges against a former Olympian who President Donald Trump wrongly blamed for his botched Reflecting Pool renovation.
In a blow to the president and his handpicked U.S. Attorney, Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the case once and for all, calling the administration’s bid to keep the matter alive “simply fanciful.”
Pirro, who prosecutes cases in the District of Columbia, initially charged former Olympian David Hearn with damaging the pool, claiming witnesses saw him “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool.
However, the former Fox host known as “Judge Jeanine” dropped the charges after admitting the damage to the iconic landmark wasn’t caused by vandalism at all, but by a botched job by Trump’s own contractor.
Despite this, the department was exploring whether it could mount another type of case, potentially based on lower-level misdemeanor allegations.
As such, Elderman wrote on Thursday, Hearn still faced “the unique possibility that the government will revive this case—one that it has already announced to be meritless—based on political pressure brought by the President of the United States upon his subordinate officers.”
The Obama-judge ruled that the government had “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.”
“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,” he wrote.
By dismissing the case “with prejudice” on Thursday, the judge ended a damning saga that began in April, when Trump made a surprise decision to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.
Trump then awarded the job to a contractor who had helped fix a pool at one of his golf courses, and the project price tag ballooned from about $1.5 million to more than $16 million.
Instead of creating a clean pool painted “American Flag Blue,” the landmark became an algae-infested mess, and in turn, a national embarrassment.
The Daily Beast has reached out Pirro’s office. Hearn’s attorneys—Mary Dohrmann, Steve Levin and Michael Bromwich—said in a joint statement that what happened to their client was a “miscarriage of justice” and “an outrage that should shock every American.”
The Reflecting Pool, meanwhile, remains fenced off and empty, and the White House cannot say when the repairs will be complete.
But it is far from the only project Trump has embarked on as he attempts to remake Washington in his own image.
On Thursday, just across Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, protesters gathered to push back against the president’s plan to build a 250-foot arch.
The crowd included numerous veterans who oppose what they called a vanity project being built to block the view from Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 400,000 U.S. service members are buried, of the National Mall just across the river.
“He’s proposed an arch that’s larger than the Statue of Liberty, larger than the Lincoln Memorial, the Arc de Triomphe,” said Jon Gunderson, one of the Vietnam veterans suing to block the project.
“It will also block the view from these sacred sites. Up there from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Kennedy graves, you can see these iconic things: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial. No more; that will disappear forever if they build this arch.”
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran whose father is buried at Arlington, eviscerated Trump for his attempts to build the arch, and called “bulls--t” on his more recent claim it would also be a military complex with snipers.
“I am pissed that the five-time draft-dodging coward of a commander-in-chief sitting over there in the White House dares to dishonor the men and women of this country,” she said.
“He may not have been brave enough to serve himself. He may come up with excuses and lies, not one, not two, not three, not four, but five times he avoided serving in Vietnam. This cemetery, these hallowed grounds, are full of our heroes who did show up and did serve.”
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the arch “is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world.”
“It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250 year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today,” he said.
“President Trump will continue to honor our veterans and give the greatest Nation on earth — America — the glory it deserves.”
