Prosecution of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism suspects begins to weaken

WASHINGTON - A former Olympic athlete was bound over Monday in Washington, D.C., for a trial that might never happen as repair work at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool demonstrates allegations of vandalism appear to be unfounded.

The waterproof lining applied at a cost of more than $16 million started peeling within two weeks after the resurfacing was completed last month.

One of the five people arrested on charges of vandalizing the lining was David Hearn, 67, who competed as a canoeist in three Olympics.

A District of Columbia Superior Court judge set his trial date Monday for Sept. 28. He is charged with a felony count of destruction of property and faces up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted.

The pool was drained a second time beginning July 10 for remediation work. Since then, photos, satellite images and video show the lining peeled away in at least seven places along seams, according to analyses from major media organizations.

There were no signs of human-caused gashes with sharp objects or by someone pulling on the lining.

The Washington Post reported that it hired experts on similar kinds of construction to review the visual evidence. They reportedly said the damage indicated a problem in properly sealing the lining.

Other evidence suggests that hydrogen peroxide added to water in the pool to get rid of algae could have further weakened sealants for the lining.

The vandalism allegations were repeated by President Donald Trump in a June 23 post to Truth Social.

“It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition," Trump wrote.

All of the persons accused of vandalism say they were only looking at the floating pieces of lining or briefly touching it before they were arrested.

Hearn said he was riding his bicycle through the National Mall when he stopped to view the deterioration of the reflecting pool. He said he reached into the water to touch a piece of the blue rubberized lining hanging loosely near the basin edge.

Hearn said he let go of it when asked by a park employee.

Hearn's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the charges last week.

At Hearn's pretrial hearing Monday, Judge Todd E. Edelman implied that the government's case against him was in danger.

One of the issues raised by Hearn's attorneys is that the renovation work on the reflecting pool is destroying the evidence that would prove their client innocent. They reasoned that he could not have a fair trial if the same government that was prosecuting him was taking away his ability to defend himself in court.

"Despite the importance of the pool liner to the case" … the government "has fenced off the scene, begun draining the pool yet again, and publicly announced its intention to repair the very liner whose condition is at issue," Hearn's attorneys wrote in their court filing.

The judge agreed that depriving Hearn of the evidence he needed in his defense could jeopardize the prosecution's case.

The government is "operating at its own peril," Edelman said.

Prosecutors' evidence consists largely of testimony from U.S. Park Police and National Park Service workers who say they saw Hearn pulling at the pool's newly applied blue sealant on June 19.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced his indictment, saying, “These deliberate acts of destruction set back real progress and violate the law.”

Attorneys for the vandalism suspects accuse the government of scapegoating over the embarrassment caused by deterioration of the lining.

Trump ordered the "flag blue" sealant applied to the reflecting pool ahead of the nation’s 250th independence anniversary celebration this month. Before the initial work was completed June 4, the project's costs ballooned from an initial estimate of $1.5 million to more than $16 million.

The Department of the Interior awarded the contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings in April.

After the pool turned bright green from an algae bloom, workers dumped hydrogen peroxide into the water to kill the algae. Experts hired by media companies said the hydrogen peroxide could have weakened the chemical adhesive holding the lining in place.

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