By Andrew Goudsward and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) – Flawed work by a contractor caused the liner of the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to peel, President Donald Trump’s administration said in a court filing on Friday.
In the filing, the Justice Department moved to drop its case against David “Davey” Hearn, 67, a former U.S. Olympian who had been accused of vandalizing the pool.
Issues at the pool had become a flashpoint over Trump’s efforts to remake Washington.
The U.S. Interior Department provided documents “indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026,” the Justice Department said in the filing.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non and David Gregorio)
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