The White House is reportedly pressing the Justice Department to consider new charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn—even after prosecutors admitted their original felony vandalism case was built on faulty information supplied by the Interior Department.

DOJ officials are now holding “informal and preliminary” discussions about whether a misdemeanor prosecution remains possible, sources familiar with the talks told The Wall Street Journal.

The reported White House request follows President Donald Trump’s repeated public attacks on D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dropping the case. Trump accused Pirro of “choking” and folding “like an umbrella” while insisting a witness saw Hearn damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s newly installed blue coating.

Trump acknowledged Monday that “some contractor error” contributed to the peeling but maintained that Hearn also caused damage.

Pirro’s office previously charged Hearn with felony destruction of government property, alleging he “forcefully and violently” removed part of the coating. The charge carried a potential ten-year prison sentence.

But prosecutors later learned that Interior had withheld records documenting serious installation problems—including communications with the contractor about peeling before Hearn’s June 19 arrest.

“The damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI,” Pirro’s office said in its dismissal motion.

Those newly disclosed records “significantly undermined” the government’s ability to prove that Hearn caused the damage beyond a reasonable doubt, prosecutors acknowledged. Fox News reported that Pirro’s office initially received only “barebones” Interior reports.

A judge formally dismissed the charge August 6 but has not yet decided whether the dismissal will be with prejudice—which would permanently block prosecutors from reviving the case—or without prejudice. A hearing on that question is expected next month.

Hearn’s lawyers are urging the judge to slam the door shut, calling the prosecution politically motivated and “devoid of adequate factual support.”

“The risk of harassment and bad faith is very real,” they argued, accusing administration officials of publicly attacking prosecutors for following the evidence.

Democrats have now entered the fray. House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin demanded Tuesday that the administration explain when officials learned that poor workmanship—not vandalism—caused the coating to fail, Courthouse News reported.

DBS WIRE SOURCES

• Wall Street Journal: White House asks DOJ to consider new Reflecting Pool prosecution
• Fox News: Prosecutors cite undisclosed Interior records in dropping Hearn case
• New York Post: Trump doubles down but acknowledges contractor error
• Courthouse News: House Democrats probe DOJ’s botched Reflecting Pool case
• Associated Press: Hearn’s lawyers say DOJ knew or should have known case was flawed