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Lawyers in Reflecting Pool case say U.S. Justice Department knew case was flawed
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CityNews Toronto
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department knew or should have known for weeks that its case against a former Olympian charged with intentionally damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was flawed, and that he bore no responsibility for longstanding problems at the landmark, defense lawyers said Tuesday.
Lawyers for Hearn urged a judge to permanently dismiss the case and foreclose the possibility that the Trump administration could revive it.
The contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, “publicly acknowledged, before Mr. Hearn was indicted, that portions of the project required repair,” the lawyers said.
Trump, who met with Pirro late Monday, said he remained disappointed by her assessment that damage to the Reflecting Pool was the result of shoddy construction, not vandalism.
“Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge.”