White House wants DOJ to revive Reflecting Pool case prosecutors dropped: Reports

The White House now wants the Justice Department to look at whether it can bring a new case

against the man accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. That's after federal prosecutors dropped the original case and said the damage wasn't vandalism after all

The Wall Street Journal was first to report that White House officials have asked the Justice Department

to explore whether David Hearn could be prosecuted again. Federal prosecutors initially accused Herne, a former Olympic canoeist

of pulling a part of the new coating on the bottom of the reflecting pool

But they later dropped the felony case after new information showed the damage was caused

by what they called a botched installation, not vandalism. President Trump has publicly blasted U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dropping the case

and urged her to revisit the decision. Now, after prodding from the White House

the Justice Department is looking at whether there's another path forward, possibly a misdemeanor case

A judge is expected to decide whether the original case should be dismissed with prejudice

which could prevent the Justice Department from charging her again over the same alleged conduct

This is now landing on a Justice Department with a new boss. Todd Blanche was sworn in as Attorney General Monday and has said the president has both the right and the duty to weigh in on Justice Department matters

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