Amid the Trump administration infighting over a decision to move to dismiss a felony criminal charge against a former Olympian who was accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, prosecutors in Washington moved to drop charges against three other defendants who were similarly accused of damaging the pool, court filings reviewed by CBS News in D.C. Superior Court show.
In recent days, federal prosecutors in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office moved to dismiss three misdemeanor cases following a Friday court filing that moved to dismiss vandalism charges against former Olympian David Hearn.
In addition to Hearn, prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges against three others accused of similar damage: Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Cameron Thiers, according to court filings. The three were accused of destroying property of value less than $1,000.
CBS News has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Hearn, a Maryland resident, said he stopped by the pool on June 19 while on a bike ride, and authorities arrested him after he reached down to touch it. He was accused of ripping a piece of sealant from the pool resulting in damage greater than $1,000. He denied any wrongdoing.
Despite accusations from Pirro that Hearn had “damaged the pool,” prosecutors on Friday said they dropped the case after new information came to light that the damage was caused by a “botched installation” by a contractor in the rush to finish the project ahead of the America 250 events in Washington. Pirro’s office said the Department of the Interior had recently obtained internal documents that show the pool had frequent setbacks due to poor weather and damage occurring to the pool while sealant was being applied.
Attorneys for Hearn said in a statement Friday that the case “should never have been brought” and that the government “owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”
Pirro’s decision to drop the charges caught the ire of President Trump, who said she “choked” and “made a mistake,” while he insisted that “vandals” damaged the pool.
“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Monday, adding, “I don’t know what the hell happened.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum echoed the White House, saying in a post on X Saturday that the “evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool.”
“Some of these acts were even caught on camera. We also provided the U.S. Attorney’s office expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals and provided every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested time line detailing each area of damage at the pool,” Burgum said, without providing specific evidence.
Pirro was later spotted visiting the White House hours after Mr. Trump’s comments.
Allen Dale, an attorney representing Thiers, said in a phone interview Monday that his client was “happy now that this case has been dismissed,” but that the last six weeks since he was charged have been a “nightmare.”
“He’s glad it’s over and wants to put it behind him,” Dale told CBS News.
Dale said he found out the Justice Department chose not to prosecute Thiers by email overnight Sunday.
In a statement to CBS News, Jamison Koehler, an attorney representing Dennison-Gibbey, said his client “was arrested for a crime any rational person knows she did not commit.”
David Benowitz, a partner at Price Benowitz LLP who represents Carreno, said his client was a government contractor who was fired days after he was arrested, resulting in Carreno moving from his home due to being unable to afford rent during the “tragedy” his client faced.
“We were all at the pool, there’s no slashes,” Benowitz said in a phone interview with CBS News. As part of a visit to the pool to investigate the damage, Benowitz said he and other lawyers saw the “flawed seams” in the pool and where the liner “bubbled up.”
Instead, the government “literally fabricated a crime,” Benowitz said, adding that his client is considering all legal options against the government after the dismissal.
“This was the epitome of the politicization of the criminal justice system,” Benowitz said. “It’s just the sort of the gut-wrenching reality of it. The guy just goes down to the Reflecting Pool and walks out with a misdemeanor and is fired from his job.”
