Judge cites Trump’s threats in permanent dismissal of Reflecting Pool damage charges against Olympian

A federal judge has barred prosecutors from ever refiling the case against David Hearn, a onetime U. S. Olympian who had been accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial. Judge Todd Edelman ruled Thursday that the dismissal is with prejudice, which means the charges cannot be brought again. His reasoning leaned heavily on public statements by President Donald Trump, who has played down documentation showing the damage occurred during renovation work, according to CNN · The Independent.

The Justice Department had already asked to end the prosecution after new evidence about the cause of the damage surfaced, but it wanted to keep open the chance of charging Hearn later. Edelman found that prospect unrealistic, saying the government's own representations showed it was remote and probably imaginary. He also concluded that Hearn faced a genuine risk of a baseless second prosecution because of pressure from Trump, who has mocked the decision by U. S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office to drop the case and has floated firing her over it.

The judge faulted prosecutors for obtaining the indictment in the first place, writing that they acted first and asked questions afterward.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · The Independent →