Clare Lawler Kilgallen 🌳🧬

The Justice Department moved to drop its criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn, accusing him of purposely vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. The department cited new information that the damage "was the result of flawed installation by the contractor" and "the rush to complete the project prior to" America 250 celebration events. "It was not until after these documents were produced that USAO-DC (the U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C.) first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI (the Department of the Interior)," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro wrote in a court filing released Friday. Earlier this month, Hearn, who competed for the U.S. as a canoeist in three Summer Olympics, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of property destruction. Hearn's attorneys said after the case was dropped that the Trump administration owed their client an apology. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim," they said.