A Washington judge is signaling that he may block federal prosecutors from keeping the door open to future charges against a former Olympic athlete accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. During a hearing on Friday, Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman challenged the government on why it continues to insist on the right to potentially re-prosecute David Hearn, despite having admitted that its initial case lacked the necessary evidence.
According to The Hill, the judge spent significant time questioning assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Spence about President Trump’s influence on the case. Edelman pressed the prosecutor on how he was supposed to view the president’s public remarks about Hearn, his legal team, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro as anything other than “pressuring your office, your boss and the three of you to charge Mr. Hearn, recharge Mr. Hearn with what you had decided to be a meritless prosecution.”
