Justice watchdog declines inquiry into dismissed Olympian prosecution

The Justice Department’s inspector general has declined to investigate prosecutors who charged former Olympic canoeist David Hearn with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a felony case that collapsed after officials said a contractor’s flawed installation caused the damage.

Hearn’s lawyers urged Inspector General Don Berthiaume to reconsider in an Oct. 21 letter, arguing that their allegations involve potential crimes, not just questions about prosecutors’ judgment. The inspector general referred the matter to the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates certain misconduct by department lawyers, according to the attorneys.

“The question presented here is not whether prosecutors exercised poor judgment in the course of litigation,” the lawyers wrote. They called for an inquiry into possible “witness tampering, subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracies against civil rights.” Those are allegations by Hearn’s legal team; the inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

Hearn’s lawyers had asked the inspectors general at both the Justice and Interior departments on Oct. 6 to examine his arrest, indictment and the dismissal of the charge. According to NBC News, the Interior Department inspector general’s office is investigating allegations involving its personnel.

The case began with a July 2 announcement by Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who accused Hearn of tearing part of the pool’s liner with his hands. President Donald Trump also blamed damage at the pool on Hearn and other “vandals,” NBC News reported. At the end of July, Pirro’s office moved to dismiss the case, saying the damage resulted from flawed installation by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings. A judge later dismissed the charge and barred the government from bringing it again, according to NBC News.

Hearn’s attorneys say prosecutors had evidence before charging him that his actions caused no harm or monetary loss. They point in particular to a government witness’s grand jury testimony. The witness initially said the pool needed repairs regardless of Hearn’s actions, did not know whether Hearn had damaged the lining and could not calculate any additional repair cost attributable to him, the lawyers said.

After a 21-minute break, the witness returned and testified that the damage was “definitely” $1,000 or more, according to the attorneys. That figure was needed for a felony charge. The lawyers want investigators to determine whether prosecutors knowingly caused the witness to change the testimony. They have also asked for scrutiny of Pirro’s public comments about the case.

The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has authority over certain allegations concerning lawyers’ work in litigation, investigations and legal advice. Hearn’s lawyers argue that it cannot conduct the criminal inquiry they seek and say its staff has been reduced by roughly half since the start of the Trump administration. “The plain fact is that OPR is no longer a fully functioning entity capable of conducting rigorous oversight,” they wrote.

Unless the inspector general takes up the case, the lawyers said, an investigation into the prosecutors’ conduct “will simply not take place.”