{"id":27121,"date":"2026-08-04T09:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27121"},"modified":"2026-08-04T09:30:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:30:46","slug":"trump-doj-drops-charges-against-three-more-defendants-accused-of-reflecting-pool-vandalism-but-one-lost-his-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27121","title":{"rendered":"Trump DOJ Drops Charges Against Three More Defendants Accused of Reflecting Pool Vandalism \u2014 But One Lost His Job"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5743014\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5743014\" class=\"wp-image-5743014 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/am13.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26196720030483.jpg\" alt=\"Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5743014\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rahmat Gul\/AP Photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>President <strong>Donald Trump&#8217;s<\/strong> Department of Justice has dropped the charges against the other three defendants accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, joining another indictment it voluntarily dismissed against former Olympic canoeist<strong> David Hearn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This now means that all four cases accusing defendants of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool have been dismissed, reported <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox5dc.com\/news\/charges-dropped-against-all-reflecting-pool-vandalism-suspects\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox 5 DC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/photo-of-felon-who-whiffed-on-reflecting-pool-renovation-likens-him-to-mobster-comic-book-villain\/\">attempts<\/a> to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have been a months-long source of frustration for him, as the project has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/reflecting-pool-is-now-under-siege-by-a-different-and-more-aggressive-form-of-algae-report\/\">plagued<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/trump-threatened-10-years-in-prison-for-vandalizing-reflecting-pool-but-protester-who-spray-painted-lincoln-memorial-got-zero-jail-time\/\">bright green algae<\/a> and peeling paint, which Trump and others in his administration have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/opinion\/trump-is-literally-claiming-theres-video-from-the-reflecting-pool-of-someone-cutting-it-with-a-box-knife-even-after-doj-gave-up\/\">claimed<\/a> was caused by vandals. These claims were swiftly met with a high level of skepticism by the media and local D.C. residents, but the DOJ made several arrests nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>One of those arrested was Hearn, who was facing a felony <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/former-olympian-charged-with-vandalism-after-he-said-he-checked-out-the-peeling-blue-bottom-of-the-reflecting-pool\/\">charge<\/a> for destruction of government property until July 31, when the DOJ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/31\/us\/politics\/david-hearn-reflecting-pool-vandalism-charges.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dismissed<\/a> the indictment.<\/p>\n<p>In a motion filed on July 27, Hearn\u2019s attorneys <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/crime\/trump-dojs-own-witness-said-reflecting-pool-had-substantial-preexisting-damage-before-alleged-vandal-touched-it\/\">argued<\/a> that \u201cthe Government\u2019s sole grand-jury witness on damages testified that the property was already damaged before Mr. Hearn allegedly touched it; that the same repairs would have been required regardless of Mr. Hearn\u2019s conduct; and that he could not quantify any loss attributable to that conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office for the District of Columbia, led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/tv\/heres-how-fox-news-covered-trump-bashing-former-host-jeanine-pirro\/\"><strong>Jeanine Pirro<\/strong><\/a>, admitted in its <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/28528068\/justice-department-motion-to-dismiss-case-against-former-olympian-david-hearn.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">motion<\/a> that it had relied on claims from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/doug-burgum-fires-back-on-reflecting-pool-case-we-wont-back-down\/\">Department of the Interior<\/a> that \u201cthe damage was caused entirely by vandals, including [Hearn],\u201d but after the indictment, DOI then \u201cprovided additional documents\u201d that revealed \u201cthe damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump has continued to insist the damage was due to vandalism, even falsely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/opinion\/trump-is-literally-claiming-theres-video-from-the-reflecting-pool-of-someone-cutting-it-with-a-box-knife-even-after-doj-gave-up\/\">claiming<\/a> there was video evidence of people &#8220;cutting it with a box knife.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In addition to dropping the felony charge against Hearn, Pirro&#8217;s office has now moved to dismiss three other misdemeanor cases with similar accusations, CBS News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-charges-dropped-pirro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The other three defendants were<strong>\u00a0Justin Carreno<\/strong>, <strong>Sophie Dennison-Gibby<\/strong>, and <strong>Cameron Thiers<\/strong>, each accused of destroying government property with a value less than $1,000.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration did not respond to requests for comment from CBS News, but attorneys for the three defendants did, and had sharp criticism for the attempt to prosecute their clients.<\/p>\n<p>Thiers&#8217; attorney<strong> Allen Dale<\/strong> told CBS News that the DOJ had informed him they were no longer pursuing the case against his client by email Sunday evening. Dale said the criminal charges had been a six-week &#8220;nightmare&#8221; for his client, but he was &#8220;happy now that this case has been dismissed,&#8221; and was &#8220;glad it&#8217;s over and wants to put it behind him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jamison Koehler<\/strong>, an attorney representing Dennison-Gibby, issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wusa9.com\/article\/news\/local\/dc\/national-mall\/prosecutors-drop-charges-all-four-people-vandal-reflecting-pool-david-hearn-justin-carreno-cameron-theirs-sophie-dennison-gibby-trump-pirro\/65-1eb37c41-aa99-49c1-96f7-b48acdaf46c9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> saying his client &#8220;was arrested for a crime any rational person knows she did not commit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It had &#8220;distressed&#8221; his client when &#8220;police and prosecutors had no interest in reviewing exculpatory evidence that was offered to them&#8230;because this evidence did not fit the narrative the Trump Administration was pushing,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Finally, she was petrified when the President of the United States \u2014 the most powerful person in the world \u2014 singled her out, along with the handful of other people arrested, as a &#8216;sick person&#8217; who would undoubtedly be facing serious jail time,&#8221; Koehler added. &#8220;Fortunately, her nightmare is now over.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Carreno may have had the worst of it. His attorney, <strong>David Benowitz<\/strong>, called the case a &#8220;tragedy&#8221; for his client, telling CBS News in a phone interview that Carreno was fired from his job as a government contractor days after he was arrested, and then had to move out of his home because he could no longer afford his rent.<\/p>\n<p>The federal government &#8220;literally fabricated a crime,&#8221; Benowitz declared, sharing that he and other lawyers representing the defendants examined the Reflecting Pool site to investigate the alleged &#8220;damage&#8221; and saw the &#8220;flawed seams&#8221; and where the liner had &#8220;bubbled up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was the epitome of the politicization of the criminal justice system,&#8221; said Benowitz. &#8220;It&#8217;s just the sort of the gut-wrenching reality of it. The guy just goes down to the Reflecting Pool and walks out with a misdemeanor and is fired from his job.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to Benowitz, Carreno &#8220;is considering all legal options against the government after the dismissal,&#8221; reported CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/crime\/trump-doj-drops-charges-against-three-more-defendants-accused-of-reflecting-pool-vandalism-but-one-lost-his-job\/\">Trump DOJ Drops Charges Against Three More Defendants Accused of Reflecting Pool Vandalism \u2014 But One Lost His Job<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\">Mediaite<\/a>.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rahmat Gul\/AP Photo President Donald Trump&#8217;s Department of Justice has dropped the charges against the other three defendants accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, joining another indictment it voluntarily dismissed against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn. This now means that all four cases accusing defendants of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool have been dismissed,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/am13.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26196720030483.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}