DOJ moves to drop charges against more Reflecting Pool vandalism suspects
The filing said the Reflecting Pool damage came from a contractor error, undercutting the vandalism case and leading prosecutors to abandon the remaining charges.
- Federal prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges against Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby, and Cameron Thiers after reviewing Interior Department evidence regarding damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool; all three cases are now marked closed on the D.C. Superior Court webpage.
- U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's dismissal of the felony case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn on Friday prompted the broader review, with prosecutors citing Interior Department evidence showing a 'rushed and flawed installation' and claiming officials withheld critical information until after the grand jury indictment.
- Pirro reportedly brought a large white box of Interior Department material to the White House on Monday for a sometimes heated private Oval Office meeting with President Trump, while Trump maintained vandals caused most damage and wrote on Truth Social, "To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM."
- President Trump publicly rebuked Pirro, saying she "choked" and "folded like an umbrella" by dropping the cases, though he acknowledged there "may have been some contractor difficulty" while insisting the damage was vandalism; the White House deferred further comment to his prior Oval Office remarks.
- Justin Carreno was fired from his government contractor job despite the dismissal, and his attorney told CBS the government had "literally fabricated a crime" while exploring legal options; Sophie Dennison-Gibby's attorney told USA Today she was relieved but had previously feared jail time after Trump called them "sick people who faced jail time.
33 Articles
33 Articles
Reflecting Pool prosecutor said government wasn't 'forthcoming'
A DOJ prosecutor revealed they wouldn’t have charged a former Olympian for vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool if the Department of the Interior had shared key info earlier about installation issues causing damage.
A veterinarian wanted to fish garbage out of the Reflecting Pool and was arrested. The charge is dropped – but the consequences remain. An analysis.
Olympic canoeist charged by Pirro seeks to permanently sink Reflecting Pool case
Attorneys for the former Olympic canoeist the Trump administration had charged in a felony Reflecting Pool case are seeking to permanently bar any effort to resurface what they called a “politically motivated prosecution” of their client.
The Washington Attorney General claims that the damage to the pond is the result of a "defective" reform and withdraws the charges against the "vandals" that Trump blamed on having damaged the paint and polluted the waters OPINION - Trump and the metaphor of the pond, by Guillermo Fesser Donald Trump wants to cement his political legacy with pharaonic works and frame it with golden endings throughout the capital. However, those aspirations of gr…
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