DOJ Inspector General Refuses to Probe Reflecting Pool Case, After Hearn’s Lawyers Expose Potential Misconduct
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The Justice Department’s inspector general says it will not open a new investigation into the handling of the felony case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, instead shunting the matter to the Office of Professional Responsibility as Hearn’s legal team accuses DOJ and Interior personnel of serious wrongdoing.
The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has refused to launch an investigation into the prosecution of former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was charged in July with felony damage to President Donald Trump’s Reflecting Pool renovations. Hearn’s attorneys wrote to Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume, pointing to “numerous potential criminal violations” involving DOJ and Department of the Interior personnel and pressing the OIG to reconsider its decision.
The letter contends that prosecutors barreled ahead with charges despite evidence that Hearn’s actions caused no monetary loss, and it alleges that a government witness changed testimony after a short off-the-record break in order to push the case over the $1,000 damage threshold needed for a felony charge. The attorneys also seek an inquiry into public remarks made by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, which they say were blatantly prejudicial.
“It is now undisputed — by everyone except President Trump — that Mr. Hearn should never have been arrested and certainly should not have been indicted. The OIG must now investigate whether the DOJ personnel responsible for this travesty engaged in misconduct that violated Mr. Hearn’s civil rights,” the letter states.
The OIG replied that the case belongs under the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which handles certain kinds of lawyer misconduct. Hearn’s lawyers argue that OPR has been weakened by staffing cuts dating back to the Trump administration and say the office does not have criminal investigative authority.
The letter also points to a separate investigation by the Interior Department’s inspector general into allegations involving its own personnel. Earlier, President Trump dismissed 18 inspectors general, including the Interior Department’s, a move he described as “a very common thing to do.”
Legal analysts say the decision not to open a separate OIG investigation leaves the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct largely untouched, especially given the limited resources available to the OPR.