The judge presiding over the prosecution of former Olympic canoeist David Hearn already had a crucial decision in front of him: Should he grant the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case only temporarily, or should he dismiss it permanently as Hearn has requested?
A new report highlights the importance of that forthcoming decision.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that White House officials “have asked the Justice Department to consider a new prosecution” of Hearn. The Journal further reported that, after the White House’s outreach, DOJ officials “are exploring whether another type of case — likely based on misdemeanor allegations — is even possible. The discussions have been informal and preliminary, the people said.”
Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman already dismissed the case last week, after the District of Columbia’s Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, asked the judge to do so. Pirro admitted that her initial claim that Hearn vandalized the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was marred by her office’s subsequent discovery that the damage to the landmark was actually due to a botched renovation.
Pirro made the motion to dismiss “without prejudice,” which, if granted, would leave open the option for the DOJ to attempt to revive the case in the future. Hearn’s lawyers have urged the judge to dismiss the case “with prejudice,” arguing that the indictment was “motivated by political considerations and devoid of adequate factual support” from the very start and that a permanent dismissal is needed to prevent the risk of “harassment and bad faith” by the government.
Edelman entered an order last week dismissing the case but without resolving whether to do so with or without prejudice. He observed that both parties agreed the case should be dropped, even if they disagreed about how. “Given the positions of the parties, the Court discerns no reason why this felony case should remain pending against Mr. Hearn while the parties litigate, and the Court resolves, the remaining legal issues,” Edelman wrote in the order.
The judge gave the government until Aug. 18 to respond to Hearn’s prejudice argument, after which Hearn’s lawyers will have another week to file a final written argument. The judge set a hearing for next month.
It’s unclear when Edelman will issue a final decision or how he will decide, but the latest reporting underscores that this is one of the latest prosecutorial priorities for Donald Trump in a presidential term that has featured the DOJ trying to imprison his critics and political opponents. It comes as one of Trump’s former criminal defense lawyers, Todd Blanche, was just confirmed as attorney general, where he is expected to continue deploying the full force of the government to aid Trump’s personal priorities.
The Journal reported that a DOJ spokesperson said that the department “follows the evidence when determining if crimes have been committed” and evaluates cases “based on the facts and the law.” The Journal reported that the White House referred to the president’s social media posts. Trump has posted on social media urging Pirro to reconsider what he called her “hastily made decision.”
One of Hearn’s lawyers, Norm Eisen, said on social media that reviving the case would “mark a shocking first: Bringing back from the dead a case that the DOJ lost by its own admission that it lacked evidence to convict. It would add another bizarre turn to a sad chapter in the DOJ’s history — & further harass an innocent man.”
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