President Donald Trump escalated his fight over the dismissed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case Sunday, posting a National Park Service employee’s witness account that described former Olympian David Hearn “violently” ripping and tugging at the pool’s coating before authorities arrived.
Trump shared court documents on Truth Social showing interviews with two NPS employees who were cleaning the pool’s interior when Hearn approached on June 19.
According to the filing, one employee — identified as W-1 — said Hearn initially used his cellphone to take what appeared to be photos or video of damage to the pool.
Then the employee alleged Hearn “knelt, placed both hands into the reflecting pool, below the surface of the water, and started to ‘violently’ rip and tug at a large portion of the blue pool coating.”
“A National Park Service career employee, a highly credible witness, saw David Hearn (ActBlue) in broad daylight vandalize the Reflecting Pool by ‘violently’ ripping and tugging at the Pool’s somewhat delicate coating.”
The filing states that W-1 asked a second NPS employee to contact police and told Hearn not to touch or pull at the coating.
Hearn allegedly responded that NPS personnel were “awfully sensitive about the pool” and continued tugging at the coating until National Guard soldiers arrived.
Trump posted the witness account days after urging U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to revisit the case. Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the felony charge against Hearn earlier this month.
Hearn was indicted July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property after U.S. Park Police alleged he grabbed and pulled at a loose portion of the pool coating and continued after being told to stop. Officials initially alleged the damage exceeded $1,000.
Pirro’s office later said prosecutors had received only “barebones” reports from the Department of the Interior before seeking the indictment and were not initially given records documenting broader problems with the pool coating’s installation.
Prosecutors said documents produced after the indictment showed that some of the Reflecting Pool damage was tied to flawed installation by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings and a rush to finish the project before the America 250 celebration.
“Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” prosecutors wrote in seeking dismissal.
The government said the newly disclosed evidence made it difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn caused the damage alleged in the indictment. Prosecutors asked for dismissal without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that charges could be brought again.
Trump acknowledged in his Sunday post that contractors were responsible for a portion of the problems at the pool, saying there was “some contractor error” as crews rushed to finish the renovation ahead of July 4.
But he described that damage as limited and alleged other incidents occurred around the Reflecting Pool — including the use of an “acid like material” on newly installed grass beside the pool, where “86 47” was allegedly written.
“There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself.”
Trump has repeatedly challenged Pirro’s decision, saying last week that he “disagree[d] 100%” with the U.S. attorney and later accusing her of having “choked” under pressure in the case.
Hearn’s attorneys — Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin — previously said the case “should never have been brought” and accused the administration of wrongly arresting and charging a man they said “did nothing wrong.”
Trump argued Sunday that the witness account shows the Reflecting Pool damage wasn’t caused by faulty construction alone, pointing to the government’s own court filing to support his claim.
“We are working on the Pool, and it will reopen shortly,” Trump said, adding that security cameras have been and are being installed.
