The Justice Department’s internal watchdog has declined to investigate the failed prosecution against former Olympian David Hearn, who was accused of intentionally vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to his lawyers.
The Justice Department’s inspector general told Mr. Hearn’s legal team that it would not probe allegations of professional misconduct, stating it fell outside its jurisdiction.
Instead, that kind of investigation is within the purview of the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
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In July, Mr. Hearn was charged with causing felony damage to President Trump’s renovations of the historic Reflecting Pool. The charges were later dropped.
Earlier this month, the attorneys said both the Justice Department and the Department of the Interior’s inspectors general must investigate “what happened inside their agencies that led to the shocking and indefensible treatment of Mr. Hearn.”
“Given the substantial public attention devoted to this matter, and the significant questions raised concerning the conduct of federal officials, declining independent review would risk undermining public confidence in the Department’s ability to police its own conduct. Such a result would be inconsistent with the purposes for which Congress established the OIG and would be a betrayal of its mission,” according to a Wednesday letter from Mr. Hearn’s legal team.
They requested that the officials reconsider, citing “numerous potential criminal violations” and “possible crimes.”
The Interior Department inspector general is considering the request, MS NOW reported.
In the first letter, the lawyers alleged that Trump administration officials engaged in “incompetence and misconduct” — including witness tampering, obstruction of justice and the subornation of false testimony — in a politically motivated rush to indict Mr. Hearn and deflect blame away from a botched, hurried federal renovation project.
A judge dismissed vandalism charges against Mr. Hearn in a ruling that bars prosecutors from refiling charges against him.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro accused Mr. Hearn of ripping up parts of the pool lining that came from its roughly $16 million renovation.
Evidence refuted prosecutors’ argument that vandals were to blame, leading government lawyers to eventually contend that the damage was the “result of flawed installation by the contractor.”
The “rushed” installation, which faced a July 4 deadline, led to liner peeling, according to the government’s filing.
Ms. Pirro moved to dismiss the case.
Detached pieces were floating on the pool’s surface, and Mr. Hearn said he reached out to touch one of those fragments before he was arrested.
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