Trump Administration Withheld Evidence in Bogus Reflecting Pool Vandalism Case

Add to the pile of the Trump Administration’s impeachable offenses the withholding of evidence in the criminal prosecution of an innocent man.

On Friday, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to dismiss its Trumped-up charges against Olympic canoeist David Hearn for “vandalizing” the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the T.V. star that T.V. star Trump appointed to prosecute his revenge cases in the nation’s capital, told the court that the case is refuted by documents that Trump’s Interior Department withheld until now:

Government lawyers said in a 20-page court filing that additional documents provided by the Interior Department since the indictment of David Hearn show that the damage was the result of a botched installation by a contractor as well as “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.” In addition, a recent visual inspection revealed damage throughout the pool, including in the middle — where prosecutors say a vandal would not likely have attempted to peel the lining.

…In court papers Friday, prosecutors said they had only recently received new information that undermined the basis for the prosecution.

“It was not until after these documents were produced that [prosecutors] first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented” by the Interior Department. Prosecutors could “only rely,” they wrote, on the initial information suggesting that vandals caused the damage [Eric Tucker, “Justice Department Moves to Drip Case Against Ex-Olympian Charged with Damaging Reflecting Pool,” AP, 2026.07.31].

Hearn’s lawyers say the feds knew from the start that the lining on the Reflecting Pool was peeling off before Hearn visited:

Earlier this week, Hearn’s lawyers sought access to grand jury transcripts because of what they said were “irregularities” in the process. They said a National Park Service official testified that the pool already was damaged before Hearn allegedly touched it, couldn’t quantify any damage attributable to Hearn and said the same repairs would have been required regardless of his conduct [Tucker, 2026.07.31].

Trump disagrees with Pirro’s filing and continues to peddle his butt-covering lie that Hearn and others vandalized the Reflecting Pool that Trump and his contractors messed up. Pirro may lose her job for contradicting Il Duce, but both Pirro and Trump should lose their jobs for arresting and charging an innocent man just to shift blame from the President for an embarrassing failure.

Related Corruption: Trump is threatening to revive the $1.776-billion “anti-weaponization fund” if the Senate won’t confirm Todd Blanche as Attorney General. Funny: the prosecution of David Hearn is exactly the sort of political corruption of the Justice Department that an “anti-weaponization fund” would supposedly redress, but I don’t hear anyone in the Trump Administration saying Hearn should get a check from Uncle Sam.