agreed with defense attorneys<\/a> that the government \u201cshot first and asked questions later\u201d by charging Hearn in a “lightning-fast indictment process.\u201d<\/p>\nPirro moved to dismiss the case in July weeks after it was brought, saying newly produced evidence from the Interior Department showed Hearn was not responsible for damage to the pool\u2019s lining. She attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as a rush to complete the project in time for this summer\u2019s America 250 celebration in Washington. <\/p>\n
But Hearn’s lawyers say in their letter that the evidence that established their client’s innocence had been in the Justice Department’s possession for weeks and was \u201csimply ignored.\u201d They asked the department’s inspector general to investigate why prosecutors \u201crushed to indict\u201d under what they said was political pressure from Trump, who had launched a massive renovation project before the anniversary celebrations and later accused Pirro of having \u201cchoked\u201d and \u201cfolded like an umbrella” when she dismissed the case.<\/p>\n
The attorneys also called on the watchdog to investigate, among other things, whether prosecutors failed to disclose exculpatory information in their possession and prosecutors relied on a grand jury witness who presented an unsupported figure on monetary damages to the pool; whether comments Pirro made at the indictment press conference violated Justice Department policy; and whether Pirro also violated policy by approaching and questioning a defense expert.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe record reflects an indictment obtained through unusual haste and a prosecution shaped from the outset by political pressure and built on an inadequate investigation,” they said, adding, \u201cThe sprint to charge Mr. Hearn mirrored the rushed renovation itself, which the President had publicly committed to completing by a fixed deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pirro’s office did not return an email seeking comment.<\/p>\n
Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, competed in three Summer Olympics, earning his best finish, ninth, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says on its website.<\/p>\n
He has said he was on a bike ride on June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool\u2019s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker\u2019s command to let go of it. He was nonetheless stopped by police officers, arrested and detained for nearly five hours.<\/p>\n
He was indicted on one count of property destruction, a charge carrying a maximum 10-year prison sentence. <\/p>\n
His lawyers questioned whether prosecutors properly presented the grand jury with adequate evidence to support the charge and the amount of damage alleged by the government. <\/p>\n
They say prosecutors failed to \u201ccritically examine\u201d allegations of a supposedly key witness whose claims about her interactions with Hearn were contradicted by video evidence, and withheld from the defense team body-worn camera recordings and other evidence.<\/p>\n
And they also challenge Pirro herself over her actions, saying she approached a defense expert at the pool on July 17 and asked about his conclusions and the results of his work. No report of that interaction has been produced to defense lawyers, they say.<\/p>\n
\u201cA U.S. Attorney who personally interrogates a represented defendant\u2019s testifying expert, in the field, surrounded by her own staff and without notice to counsel, is not gathering evidence \u2014 she is testing how the defense intends to prove its case, and doing so in a setting that essentially held the expert captive,\u201d the letter states. <\/p>\n
The letter also urges the Interior Department’s inspector general to investigate questions including who made the decision \u201cto proceed with an unqualified contractor;” why work on the pool proceeded despite known risks; why the department relied on National Guardsmen to detain Hearn; and why officials made \u201cpublicly defamatory\u201d statements even after learning of the dismissal of the case. <\/p>\n
Asked for comment, the Interior Department said that \u201cMr. Hearn admitted to officers that he was tampering with the Reflecting Pool.\u201d His lawyers said in response that Hearn \u201chas never used the word \u2018tampering.\u2019 He touched the loose liner in the Reflecting Pool. Big Difference.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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