Burgum says ‘evidence is clear’ Reflecting Pool ‘vandals’ caused damage despite DOJ dismissal

WASHINGTON, DC: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Saturday, August 1, defended the Trump administration's claims that vandals damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, despite the Justice Department moving to dismiss its felony case against former Olympian David Hearn after concluding newly uncovered evidence pointed instead to construction flaws.

The Justice Department sought to drop the destruction of property charge against Hearn after determining it could no longer prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he caused the widespread damage. Prosecutors said engineering records and newly obtained documents showed the pool's lining suffered from a rushed and flawed installation rather than vandalism.

Doug Burgum rejects DOJ's Reflecting Pool findings

Responding to the dismissal in a post on X, Burgum maintained that the evidence still supported claims of vandalism. "The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool. Some of these acts were even caught on camera," Burgum wrote.

He said the Interior Department had provided prosecutors with expert analysis, eyewitness testimony and "every piece of evidence they asked for" documenting damage at the site. 

"Intentional damage done to the Reflecting Pool is no different than defacing any one of our other national monuments. We won't back down to deranged people who want to destroy, deface, or degrade our monuments," he added.

The DOJ, however, said documents obtained after Hearn's indictment showed repeated failures during the installation process, including overspray and peeling of the pool's liner, making it difficult to attribute the broader damage to vandalism. Prosecutors also noted that the section Hearn was accused of touching differed from the area investigators believed may have been intentionally damaged.

Rep Ted Lieu criticized Burgum's remarks on X, writing that the Justice Department's own court filing concluded the Reflecting Pool's failures stemmed from "shoddy contracting work" rather than Hearn's alleged actions.

Donald Trump disputes DOJ decision on Reflecting Pool case

The dispute came after President Donald Trump publicly criticized his own Justice Department for its decision to abandon the case.

"I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I don't know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM."

Trump acknowledged there "may have been some contractor difficulty," but argued "the major damage was caused by VANDALS." In a separate post, he shared video footage from the Reflecting Pool, urging the public to "look for yourselves at the VANDALISM," while alleging the pool's lining had been cut with a knife or box cutter.

Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist, had pleaded not guilty after being charged earlier this month with felony destruction of property. His attorneys argued from the outset that he did not damage the Reflecting Pool and said the criminal case should never have been filed. The court has not yet ruled on the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the indictment.