Judge puts nail in coffin of Trump's Lincoln Reflecting Pool prosecution

Filed 1h ago · Via Newsweek · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Merry Go Slower - Distressed

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: White House (Pete Souza) / Maison Blanche (Pete Souza) · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

A federal judge dismissed with prejudice the criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn, who had been charged with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Prosecutors had already dropped the case two months earlier after concluding the pool's damage came from a flawed liner installation, not vandalism. Judge Todd Edelman's order noted the government abandoned the case not because it had the wrong suspect, but because no crime occurred at all.

Hearn was detained by National Guard members and Park Police in June after reaching into the water to touch peeling liner material; prosecutors initially claimed over $1,000 in damage, enough for a felony charge carrying up to 10 years. Edelman cited 'the extraordinary possibility' of a future meritless, politically motivated prosecution as grounds for closing the door permanently. Hearn's attorneys called the episode a miscarriage of justice.

Asked for comment, the White House pointed reporters back to President Trump's August social media posts blaming 'VANDALS' for the damage and promising the pool would reopen 'better than ever.' Those posts predate the government's own admission that installation, not sabotage, caused the gash.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

When the pool liner peels because somebody laid it crooked, you call the installer back, not the Park Police. The government charged a man with a felony for poking at a bad patch job, and it took a judge to make sure nobody tries it twice. The White House is still pointing at those August posts about vandals, which is a bit like blaming the dog for the leak after the plumber already owned up.

Source: Read the original at Newsweek → Scored: Merry Go Slower - Distressed · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

Read it scored.

Every story, every clown, every kazoo — in your pocket. Music plays automatically. Regret is optional.

GET IT ON iOS GET IT ON ANDROID

OR FOLLOW THE DESK ON BLUESKY →