Ranking Member Raskin Investigates Trump Administration’s Bogus Prosecution of Innocent Olympian to Cover-Up Botched Reflecting Pool Renovation

Raskin Demands Answers After Trump DOJ Drops Felony Case and Admits “Contractor Error” Responsible for Reflecting Pool Damage—Not “Vandalism”

Washington, D.C. (August 11, 2026)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, launched an investigation into the Trump Administration’s bogus felony prosecution of three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn, who faced a decade in prison on baseless charges that he damaged the Reflecting Pool lining. In court filings, DOJ was forced to admit the Interior Department knew President Trump’s handpicked contractor, who botched the $15 million Reflecting Pool renovation, was responsible for the damage. The investigation follows President Trump’s public rebuke of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dropping the prosecution against an innocent American.

“Did DOJ prosecutors knowingly bring a bogus indictment? Did DOI withhold key evidence to blame the disastrous reflecting pool renovation on an innocent man? Did President Trump pressure or influence either Department to engage in wrongful actions against an American citizen? At a minimum, it appears that members of the Trump Administration were ready and willing to imprison an innocent American for a decade in a desperate effort to soothe an ex-landlord’s wounded ego about a terrible paint job and wasteful contract,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

In late July, Pirro’s office moved to dismiss felony charges against Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympic canoeist, after admitting that damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by a “botched” installation rushed to meet the Trump Administration’s arbitrary and self-imposed July 4 deadline—not vandalism.

The DOJ was forced to admit that Interior officials knew the newly installed pool liner was already peeling more than a week before Hearn’s arrest but claimed Interior officials failed to provide that evidence to prosecutors until after Hearn was indicted. Yet court filings also show that DOJ had its own evidence before indicting Hearn documenting systemic failure of the liner, while the prosecution’s damages expert testified that no additional repair costs could be attributed to Hearn.

Nevertheless, after President Trump publicly blamed the damage on “radical Left Lunatics,” Pirro’s office escalated Hearn’s misdemeanor arrest into a felony prosecution carrying up to ten years in prison. Pirro called the case a “priority for the president” and vowed that prosecutors would prove Hearn’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

When Pirro’s office finally abandoned the case and admitted “contractor error” in the renovation was to blame, Trump publicly rebuked his own U.S. Attorney, declaring that he “disagree[d] 100% with Jeanine Pirro” and continuing to insist, despite his own Justice Department’s findings, that “the major damage was caused by VANDALS.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum likewise continued pushing the debunked vandalism claim.

The failed prosecution followed Trump’s repeated boasting about his renovation of the Reflecting Pool, which Interior awarded through a $15 million no-bid contract. Trump claimed the new liner “could last for 100 years.” It began visibly falling apart within weeks.

Ranking Member Raskin is demanding all records concerning the decision to prosecute Hearn, including the decision to charge him with a felony; communications among DOJ, DOI and the White House concerning the prosecution; all evidence presented to the grand jury; and transcribed interviews with individuals whose testimony prosecutors relied upon to secure Hearn’s indictment.

“We must get to the bottom of these murky waters to rid our justice system of any and all residual contamination,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

Click here to read the letter.