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David Hearn, 67, was arrested on 19 June and faced one felony count of property destruction – a charge that could have resulted in a 10-year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine – which he denied. The charge came after Donald Trump’s administration spent $14 million to change the reflecting pool’s color. A new pool liner almost immediately began to peel off, and the president blamed vandals. Four people were arrested, but only Hearn was charged with a felony. On Friday, Trump’s justice department moved to dismiss the charge against Hearn, saying in a filing that the damage to the pool liner was “the result of flawed installation by the contractor” who worked on it. In a 20-page court filing in Washington DC superior court on Friday, prosecutors said they had received information about a “rush to complete the project” prior to events associated with the celebration of the US’s semiquincentennial on Fourth of July. Washington DC’s US attorney, Jeanine Pirro, said that her office – which handles cases in the city’s superior court – had received key documents from the federal department of the interior after the indictment was filed. Those documents “indicated a rushed and flawed installation process, with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process, and extensive peeling of the lining throughout the reflecting pool,” Pirro wrote in Friday’s court filing. The resulting decision to drop the charge against Hearn set off a dispute within Trump’s administration. The president said Pirro had “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” leading to speculation that she might be fired from her post. Trump has continued to blame vandalism for problems with the pool makeover. On Monday, the president ducked questions about Pirro’s charge dismissal but maintained his criticism of her, saying “I disagree 100% with [her]”. Pirro was spotted at the White House hours after Trump’s comments on Monday. Attorneys for Hearn have previously said the government “owes Mr Hearn an apology”. “The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” his attorneys, including Levin, said on social media. “Its dismissal … does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/04/ex-olympian-david-hearn-reflecting-pool-case?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other