Yesterday, ABC News reported that the Department of Justice sought to drop the charges against David Hearn who had been accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. At the time of his arrest on June 19, 2026, Hearn claimed he had seen parts of the newly installed membrane floating on the surface and had placed his hand in the water to confirm what it was. But Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, accused him of “forcefully and violently” ripping up parts of the pool floor that was part of the President’s pet project to repair and beautify the reflecting pool and address algae growth that had plagued the pool for decades. The project had been rushed to ensure that the reflecting pool would be finished in time for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026.
For weeks after Hearns’s arrest, the President repeatedly blamed vandals for intentionally destroying the project. “It’s a shame that the Radical Left Lunatics, most likely Dumocats, who have spent their lives trying to ruin our Country are free to do it [ie destroy the pool],” he posted on Truth Social. Jeanine Pirro got a Grand Jury to indict David Hearn for destruction of federal property — a felony. Five other people were also arrested for putting their hands in the pool water.
Ooops! Never mind. On Friday, Pirro’s office said it was seeking to drop the case against Hearn after it received documents from the Department of Interior that pointed to evidence that the lining had failed due to “a rushed and flawed installation process.”
So it wasn’t “malicious vandalism”; it was shoddy work on a project that was going to cost only $1.5 million dollars. The final cost of fixing the fix is now $15 million and counting. That’s our tax dollars going down the drain, literally.
You would hope that the administration would come clean, but our President has never been one to let facts get in the way of his Truth Social posts. Today, he acknowledged that while there may have been some contractor difficulties, he disagreed “100%” with Jeanini Pirro’s assessment of the pool lining’s installation and her decision to drop the case, insisting that “the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” Yes, “VANDALS!” in capital letters so everyone reading it would be shaking in their boots.
In my humble opinion, the only VANDAL! is the one that continues to rip up the Constitution, chip away at the infrastructure of democratic governance, and plaster his face and name on anything he can.
Meanwhile, the algae returned — bigger and badder than ever — requiring the swamp…I mean, the pool…to be drained again. There is a metaphor there. Be algae.
Tongue on Fire 