Lawyers for ex-Olympian cleared in Reflecting Pool case call for government watchdog investigations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for a former Olympian whom the Justice Department charged with intentionally damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, only to abruptly drop the case after determining he was not responsible, urged two government watchdogs on Tuesday to examine what they say was a flawed investigation and prosecution.

The attorneys for David Hearn said in a letter to the inspectors general for the departments of Justice and Interior that “incompetence and misconduct" were committed by government officials operating under pressure from President Donald Trump, and that watchdog investigations were needed “to determine what happened inside their agencies that led to the shocking and indefensible treatment” of their client.

The letter was filed days after a District of Columbia judge permanently dismissed the case, ending a brief prosecution derided by defense lawyers and other critics as an abuse of government power pushed by a president who insisted vandalism, not human error, was to blame for damage at the landmark. The request indicates that Hearn's lawyers see an additional need for accountability even after the dismissal of the legal proceedings.

“In light of these findings and the government’s own admissions, a critical purpose of the requested investigations is to collect the facts — through witness interviews and the collection and analysis of electronic media and documents — necessary to hold accountable the individuals and groups who failed Mr. Hearn, the criminal justice system, and the public,” the lawyers wrote.

“These events," they said, "demand accountability and full and unconstrained investigations by your offices.”

The Justice Department inspector general's office declined to comment on whether it would act on the lawyers' request. A phone message seeking comment with the Interior Department's inspector general's office was not immediately returned.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on Thursday dismissed the case against Hearn with “prejudice,” which would block U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office from refiling the felony charge against him. He said the decision was warranted by the case's “exceptional circumstances” and agreed with defense attorneys that the government “shot first and asked questions later” by charging Hearn in a "lightning-fast indictment process.”

Pirro moved to dismiss the case in July weeks after it was brought, saying newly produced evidence from the Interior Department showed Hearn was not responsible for damage to the pool’s lining. She attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as a rush to complete the project in time for this summer’s America 250 celebration in Washington.

But Hearn's lawyers say in their letter that the evidence that established their client's innocence had been in the Justice Department's possession for weeks and was “simply ignored.” They asked the department's inspector general to investigate why prosecutors “rushed to indict” under what they said was political pressure from Trump, who had launched a massive renovation project before the anniversary celebrations and later accused Pirro of having “choked” and “folded like an umbrella" when she dismissed the case.

The attorneys also called on the watchdog to investigate, among other things, whether prosecutors failed to disclose exculpatory information in their possession and prosecutors relied on a grand jury witness who presented an unsupported figure on monetary damages to the pool; whether comments Pirro made at the indictment press conference violated Justice Department policy; and whether Pirro also violated policy by approaching and questioning a defense expert.

“The record reflects an indictment obtained through unusual haste and a prosecution shaped from the outset by political pressure and built on an inadequate investigation," they said, adding, “The sprint to charge Mr. Hearn mirrored the rushed renovation itself, which the President had publicly committed to completing by a fixed deadline.”

Pirro's office did not return an email seeking comment.

Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, competed in three Summer Olympics, earning his best finish, ninth, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says on its website.

He has said he was on a bike ride on June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker’s command to let go of it. He was nonetheless stopped by police officers, arrested and detained for nearly five hours.

He was indicted on one count of property destruction, a charge carrying a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

His lawyers questioned whether prosecutors properly presented the grand jury with adequate evidence to support the charge and the amount of damage alleged by the government.

They say prosecutors failed to “critically examine” allegations of a supposedly key witness whose claims about her interactions with Hearn were contradicted by video evidence, and withheld from the defense team body-worn camera recordings and other evidence.

And they also challenge Pirro herself over her actions, saying she approached a defense expert at the pool on July 17 and asked about his conclusions and the results of his work. No report of that interaction has been produced to defense lawyers, they say.

“A U.S. Attorney who personally interrogates a represented defendant’s testifying expert, in the field, surrounded by her own staff and without notice to counsel, is not gathering evidence — she is testing how the defense intends to prove its case, and doing so in a setting that essentially held the expert captive,” the letter states.

The letter also urges the Interior Department's inspector general to investigate questions including who made the decision “to proceed with an unqualified contractor;" why work on the pool proceeded despite known risks; why the department relied on National Guardsmen to detain Hearn; and why officials made “publicly defamatory” statements even after learning of the dismissal of the case.

Asked for comment, the Interior Department said that “Mr. Hearn admitted to officers that he was tampering with the Reflecting Pool.” His lawyers said in response that Hearn “has never used the word ‘tampering.’ He touched the loose liner in the Reflecting Pool. Big Difference.”

FILE - Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, left, and his attorney Norm Eisen, right, leave the District of Columbia Courthouse, Sept. 4, 2026, in Washington, following a hearing concerning the dismissal of charges against him for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - Work continues on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool at the National Mall in Washington, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, speaks to reporters outside the District of Columbia Courthouse, Sept. 4, 2026, in Washington, following a hearing concerning the dismissal of charges against him for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - Work continues on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Oct. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

FILE - The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is seen with police line yellow tape at the National Mall, Sept. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California couple has been arrested on child abuse charges following an investigation into a surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 children ranging in age from a few months to 13 years, authorities said Tuesday.

Silvia Zhang and her husband, Guojun Xuan face several counts of child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory after the fact, and dissuading a witness, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.

“This case is unprecedented. It is horrific. And the physical abuse, beating and punishment that these very young children received, is despicable,” Hochman said during a news conference Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors are seeking a $100 million bail for the couple because of the serious nature of the charges and due to their flight risk potential, Hochman said. They will be arraigned at the Pasadena courthouse later Tuesday.

Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s opulent home in Arcadia last year after an allegation of abuse, and another six living elsewhere were also located. They ranged in age from 2 months to 13 years, with most between 1 and 3. Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of the children while the rest were born by surrogate.

Hochman said the couple set up a surrogacy agency that they operated from their home and used that agency to hire surrogates throughout U.S.

“The house could only be described as a house of horrors for these incredible young children,” Hochman said.

Zhang and Xuan were first arrested in May 2025 after a hospital reported that their 2-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury, the result of a nanny at the home violently shaking the baby, according to Arcadia police.

Arcadia police did not file charges at the time, in order to finish a full investigation, they said.

Hochman said the couple set up three rooms they called learning centers, where the children spent several hours a day sitting at desks under the supervision of nannies.

Through an extensive surveillance system including motion-activated cameras, the couple watched as their nannies subjected the children to daily beatings and physical abuse, he said.

The nannies were told “not to leave any physical marks on the children,” Hochman said.

Before police arrived to investigate in May 2025, Zhang and Xuan told the children to deny they had been beaten.

Police examined surveillance footage that showed the nannies beating the children. They issued an arrest warrant for the nanny seen hurting a 2-month-old infant, Chunmei Li, but she could not be found.

“There will be a reckoning” for the defendants, one of whom faces more than 17 years in prison if convicted, Hochman said.

When asked about the couple’s motivation, Hochman said that was part of the ongoing investigation, as is the parentage of each of the children.

Mitchell Krems, Xuan’s attorney, previously told ABC7 that Xuan’s goal was to raise children who become productive adults.

“The reason he has all these children is because he wants them to contribute to society. He is not a man who is self-indulgent," Krems said. "Some who are wealthy might spend on jewelry or cars, but he is actually spending his resources to help his children become educated so that they can be the philosophers, the physicians, the researchers and the inventors that help society.”

Krems did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Tuesday’s arrests.

Surrogacy is an agreement between parties to have a woman become pregnant, typically through an embryo transfer, and deliver a baby for another parent.

The practice has no federal regulation, leaving it up to states to set the rules if they choose to allow it.

California is considered a “surrogacy-friendly state” because it has clear laws governing the process. Both sides are required to have lawyers, and there must be a written, notarized contract before an embryo transfer takes place.

Investigators have said they were looking into whether the couple had misled surrogates around the country. At least eight women had come forward to say they were aggressively pursued by the couple to serve as surrogates.

The women, many of whom were first-time surrogates, say they were given misleading or incomplete information about the couple’s family situation and intentions.

At least one, Kayla Elliott, is now trying to get custody of a baby she birthed for the couple.

Marcelo reported from New York City.

FILE - An aerial view shows the home of Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan on July 16, 2025, in Arcadia, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)