Former Olympian David Hahn after a deal at Moultrie Courthouse in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2026.
Finn Gomez | Getty Images
A Washington judge said Friday he plans to rule quickly on whether to dismiss a now-discredited indictment charging former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hahn with bias for destroying the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The move would bar prosecutors from re-indicting Hahn on similar charges in the case, which has been the focus of President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors have acknowledged that there is no current basis to maintain criminal charges against Hahn, and during the hearing they urged Judge Todd Edelman to dismiss the charges without prejudice in D.C. Superior Court.
This would allow prosecutors to ask a grand jury to indict Mr. Hahn again if new evidence is discovered implicating him in the pool destruction.
MS NOW reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Spence told Edelman that if new information comes to light, “I think there is a public interest in a future grand jury granting an indictment.”
But Hahn’s attorney, Steve Levin, argued that “nothing saves a dismissed case.”
“There’s no good reason to keep it alive and keep it over Mr. Hahn’s head for the next five years,” Levin told Edelman.
“I will take this matter as advised,” Edelman said at the end of the nearly hour-long hearing.
“It will not be long before a verdict is reached,” the judge added.
“I want to thank everyone who supports me here and everyone across the country,” Hahn told reporters after the hearing.
“I want to thank my lawyers for defending this case so well, and I just want to say this is not about me,” Hahn said. “This is about protecting democracy.”
During the hearing, Edelman questioned the speed with which prosecutors obtained the indictment against Hearn, knowing that they had not yet received all information from the Interior Department regarding the installation of the new pool liner.
Hahn, 67, was charged in early July with criminal damage to property after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said he intentionally and “violently” damaged the 2-square-foot liner of the reflecting pool on June 19. Hearn, a three-time Olympian, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
After being arrested on the first misdemeanor charge in the case in June, Hahn told the Washington Post that after a long bike ride, he had stopped to look at the reflecting pool and reached into the water to touch a piece of the blue liner that had partially peeled off.
“I didn’t destroy anything,” Hahn told the Post. “I didn’t break anything, break anything, or strip anything. By the time I realized what was happening, I was handcuffed.”
In late July, Mr. Pirro asked Mr. Edelman to drop the charges without prejudice.
Mr Pirro said he had heard from the Home Office that, despite previous allegations against Mr Hearn, the damage to the pool’s sealant was not caused by Mr Hearn and was caused by “defective installation”.
At the time, President Trump was outraged by Pirro’s actions, writing in a post on Truth Social that he “100% disagrees with Jeanine Pirro, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, regarding reflecting pools.”
“I don’t know what she was thinking,” the president wrote. “To me, it was pure vandalism.”
In addition to renovating the reflecting pool, Trump has made building the White House ballroom, the Arc de Triomphe overlooking Washington and other construction projects a focus of his second term as president.
At Friday’s hearing, Mr. Hahn’s attorney, Mr. Levin, argued to Mr. Edelman that the prejudicial termination was necessary to protect Mr. Hahn from being indicted again on baseless charges.
“I think it’s clear why they moved to dismiss the case because there was no case,” Levin said.
“Courts have a duty to ensure that the government does not abuse its prosecutorial discretion,” Levin said. “The question is, why do they reserve the (right) to re-prosecute cases that they admit should not have been prosecuted?”
Mr. Levin accused Mr. Pirro’s office of acting in bad faith.
Prosecutor Spence told Edelman that prosecutors acted in good faith and argued that “I think there is a public interest in allowing future grand juries to be held” if new information comes to light.
Under questioning from the judge, Mr Justice Spence accepted that the actions Hearn may have taken at the pool had no economic impact on the reflecting pool liner and therefore did not constitute destruction of property.
Mr. Edelman then asked Mr. Spence whether, given the facts, there could be any financial harm that would lead to Mr. Hahn being prosecuted again.
“We don’t know what the future holds. None of us knows,” Spence answered. He added that prosecutors would like to be able to bring charges again if more evidence is found.
“There is no reason why this court should tie the hands of future grand juries,” Spence said.
Mr. Edelman then brought up Mr. Trump’s public comments about Mr. Hahn, blaming canoeists rather than contractor errors for damage to the reflecting pool’s liner, despite Mr. Pirro’s statements to the contrary and evidence from the Interior Department.
Edelman asked Spence whether the judge could view Trump’s statements as anything other than the president directing prosecutors to “continue the prosecution that you told me was futile.”
The prosecutor replied, “I think what the president said says it all. After all, the president can fire the federal prosecutor…he could fire me if he wanted to.”
