President Donald Trump launched a new attack on Olympian David Hearn on Sunday, claiming that a “credible source” watched him “violently” tear up the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on behalf of a Democratic PAC.
Trump, 80, sent out an “ALERT” on Truth Social to once again target the former Olympic canoeist over a week after the district’s federal prosecutor, Jeanine Pirro, dropped the vandalism case brought against him.
“A National Park Service career employee, a highly credible witness, saw David Hearn (ActBlue) in broad daylight vandalize the Reflecting Pool by ‘violently’ ripping and tugging at the Pool’s somewhat delicate coating,” the president wrote on his social media platform. “The National Park Service employee provided this witness testimony to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in early July, as seen below.”
Trump included a screenshot of a highlighted section from the investigation, which read: “The NPS employee, W-1, stated that the defendant then knelt, placed both hands into the reflecting pool—below the surface of the water—and started to ‘violently’ rip and tug at a large portion of the blue pool coating.”
“Numerous other events took place, including using an acid like material on the just installed grass adjoining the Pool,” Trump continued. “On it were written the letters, ’86 47,’ a phrase probably gotten from James Comey.”
The octogenarian president went on to admit that “there is no video or proof, other than the damage itself,” and that “there was also some contractor error done by rushing the job for a July 4th opening.” He also added that security cameras were being installed in the area.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump has had trouble letting the issue go after Pirro, whom he appointed as D.C.’s top prosecutor, dropped the vandalism charges against Hearn on July 31.
Pirro said that it was not the work of “radical” vandals that damaged the Reflecting Pool, but “flawed installation by the contractor” tasked with renovating it. She also blamed the Department of the Interior’s “failure to fully and accurately provide information” to her prosecutors in her decision to drop the case.
The president said that he was “really disappointed” with Pirro over her failure to prosecute someone for his green slime fiasco, telling reporters that she “folded like an umbrella.”
Trump also said in a Truth Social post on Aug. 1 that he didn’t know what Pirro was thinking and that he disagrees “100%” with her decision.
“To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area,” he wrote. “There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”
Hearn, 67, had pleaded not guilty to a single count of destruction of property. His lawyers said in a statement that the Trump administration owes him an apology, though it’s unlikely he will ever receive one.
Hearn’s case was dismissed by Obama-appointed Judge Todd E. Edelman on Thursday, but it’s not over yet; Edelman did not rule on whether to do so with or without prejudice—which would determine whether the Justice Department could revive the charges at a later date. Both sides will present arguments before a final hearing on an unknown date.
Hearn appeared on CNN on Friday evening, explaining to the network’s Kaitlan Collins his experience of being an unjust target of the Trump administration.
“If it can happen to me, it could happen to anybody,” he said.
