Justice Department asks court to dismiss case against Olympian over Lincoln Memorial pool damage
The Justice Department has filed a motion to dismiss a criminal case accusing former Olympian David Hearn of intentionally damaging the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Government lawyers now say the harm to the pool liner was not caused by Hearn but stems from problems with the installation work.
The justice department has moved to dismiss a criminal case charging former Olympian David Hearn with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, instead blaming damage to the pool liner as “the result of flawed installation by the contractor”. Government lawyers said in a 20-page court filing in DC superior court on Friday evening that they had received information about a “rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026”.
The court filing, composed by government attorneys, frames the newly obtained information as central to the department’s decision to seek dismissal. It points to the timing and circumstances around the installation of the pool liner as the basis for reassessing the evidence that had supported the original criminal charge. The filing runs 20 pages and was submitted in DC superior court on Friday evening.
Those filings contend that construction practices and the schedule for completion, rather than any deliberate act by an individual, better explain the observed damage to the pool liner. The government documents refer to a compressed timetable tied to celebration-related events and outline how that timeline may have affected workmanship. The filing makes clear the department’s current position assigning responsibility to the contractor’s installation.
The motion represents a notable change in prosecutorial posture from the earlier charge that accused David Hearn of deliberately damaging the reflecting pool. The papers do not advance an alternative criminal allegation against any individual, focusing instead on the installation issues identified by investigators. By asking the court to drop the case, the Justice Department is signaling it no longer views the available evidence as supporting a prosecution of Hearn.
Legal observers and court schedules will determine how quickly the superior court addresses the motion, but the government’s filing sets out the factual basis for dismissal in specific terms. The filing’s language emphasizes the link between the installation timeline and the condition of the liner, and it underscores the department’s conclusion about responsibility for the damage. The document centers the contractor’s role rather than asserting culpability by the accused.
The request to dismiss the case therefore shifts official responsibility away from David Hearn and toward the contractor’s installation work, citing the compressed schedule connected to America 250 events around Independence Day 2026. The superior court will now weigh the motion and the evidence the government has presented in its 20-page filing.