DOJ Inspector General Declines to Waste Time on Reflecting Pool Case, Sends Hearn Matter to OPR
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The Justice Department’s inspector general will not open a separate investigation into the handling of the felony case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, instead routing the matter to the Office of Professional Responsibility after Hearn’s lawyers raised sweeping accusations against DOJ and Interior personnel.
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, citing “numerous potential criminal violations” involving DOJ and Department of the Interior personnel and urging the OIG to reconsider its decision.
The letter argues that prosecutors moved quickly to file charges even though evidence showed Hearn’s actions did not cause any monetary loss, and it alleges that a government witness altered testimony after a brief off-record break to satisfy the felony threshold of $1,000 in damage. The attorneys also request an inquiry into public comments made by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, which they say were unfair and 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 responded that the case falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which handles certain categories of lawyer misconduct. Hearn’s lawyers say OPR’s capacity has been reduced, with staffing cuts dating back to the Trump administration, and argue that the office lacks criminal investigative authority.
The letter also points to a separate investigation by the Interior Department’s inspector general into allegations against 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 refusal to open a separate OIG investigation leaves the allegations about prosecutorial conduct largely unexamined, given the limited resources of the OPR.