Federal watchdogs should conduct "detailed and comprehensive" investigations into the prosecution of former Olympian David Hearn after a judge cleared him of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, attorneys said Tuesday. In a 21-page letter obtained by Newsweek, Hearn's attorneys called on the inspectors general for the Departments of Justice and Interior to launch "coordinated, independent" probes into the circumstances of the former Olympic canoeist's arrest on June 19 and subsequent prosecution. A judge dismissed the case with prejudice last week.
"Because of the actions of various DOJ and DOI employees, Mr. Hearn was deprived of his liberty, indicted for a crime he did not commit, threatened with incarceration of up to 10 years, and endured the defaming of his name and reputation by high-ranking government officials, including but not limited to United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and President Donald J. Trump," the letter reads.
The watchdogs should conduct investigations to determine what led to the "shocking and indefensible treatment" of Hearn, according to his attorneys. "The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior subjected an innocent man to a nightmare of wrongful arrest, felony indictment, and public defamation to cover up their own botched, rushed renovation of the Reflecting Pool," Hearn's attorneys told Newsweek in a statement. "This administration threw the entire weight of the federal government into prosecuting Davey Hearn, and their actions surrounding his arrest and indictment demand full accountability." Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the criminal case against Hearn, 67, on Thursday, roughly two months after federal prosecutors concluded that damage to the pool had been caused by flawed installation instead of vandalism.
Attorneys for Hearn want the federal watchdogs to investigate his arrest, subsequent five-hour detention and how government officials pushed an indictment despite possessing evidence that proved the botched installation. They also want investigators to look at how critical physical evidence had been preserved, as well as the actions of U.S. "Simply put, the record clearly shows that the USAO-DC charged Mr.
Hearn despite a mountain of evidence that the Reflecting Pool was failing from installation defects, and then it misled the Court regarding when it learned of these defects in order to cover up its own misconduct and incompetence," the letter continues. Pirro moved to dismiss the case against Hearn in July after new evidence provided by the Department of Interior indicated he wasn't responsible for the damage. Pirro acknowledged a contractor caused the damage amid a rush to complete the project in time for America's 250 celebration in Washington.
"The events surrounding the renovation and repair of the Reflecting Pool and the nightmare lived by Mr. Hearn beginning June 19 demand a prompt and exhaustive investigation by professional investigators in the DOJ and DOI Offices of the Inspector General," the 21-page letter concluded. Hearn, meanwhile, previously said the judge's dismissal had been a victory for democracy.
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