Former US Olympian David Hearn pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The politically charged case – which Hearn’s defense attorneys have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power – comes as Trump official Doug Burgum says the pool has been vandalized since early June.

Hearn, who competed as a canoe racer in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. 

The 67-year-old from Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.

Before the country’s 250th independence celebrations, President Donald Trump launched a multimillion dollar renovation project for the Reflecting Pool, which was plagued by problems, including damage to its new coating. 

Trump, without providing evidence, has alleged the damage was caused by vandals.

Hearn has said he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant and let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker. He is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage.

‘Every American should be alarmed about this prosecution,’ defense attorney Norm Eisen said after the hearing. ‘It is not a crime to touch the Reflecting Pool.’

Former US Olympian David Hearn pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

The Reflecting Pool renovations were completed on June 6, but algae blooms started appearing, and the paint started peeling less than two weeks later 

However, damage to the pool is allegedly common and dates back to before Hearn’s attack, according to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. 

Burgum, who has been charge of many of Trump’s programs to beautify Washington, blamed the destruction on a lack of visuals on any potential vandals.

‘We had very few or no cameras at the beginning because we have cameras over our monuments,’ he told Katie Miller on her podcast. 

‘The Reflecting Pool is part of the Lincoln Memorial but there had never been vandalism on this, uh, you know, helpless harmless Reflecting Pool, until he decided to beautify it, and then others decided it was a point of attack.’

Burgum said the vandalism had started as early as June 9, even before Hearn acted as he allegedly did.

However, he said that the Department of the Interior ‘didn’t advertise’ the vandalism because they didn’t want copycats.  

At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the Reflecting Pool, according to online court records. 

All three pleaded not guilty during their initial court appearances Wednesday, records show.

Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said vandalizing the nation’s monuments and public spaces is ‘an affront to our shared history.’

The politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power comes as Trump official Doug Burgum (pictured) says the pool has been vandalized since early June

Before the country’s 250th independence celebrations, President Donald Trump launched a multimillion dollar renovation project for the Reflecting Pool, which was plagued by problems, including damage to its new coating. Trump, without providing evidence, has alleged the damage was caused by vandals

‘The law applies equally to everyone, and when it is broken, there are consequences,’ she said in a statement on Thursday.

In front of a packed courtroom, DC Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for August 5.

A prosecutor, Kevin Reddington, said the government wasn´t seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a ‘stay-away order’ without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.

Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn´s attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an ‘upstanding citizen and member of the community.’

‘The government´s evidence is weak,’ she added.

Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and chanted ‘Davey!’ as Hearn left after the hearing. 

Hearn joined his attorneys in front of a bank of cameras and smiled to supporters but did not speak. He raised his right hand and pumped his fist as he left.

Adam Van Grack, who chaired the U.S. Olympic national governing body for canoe and kayak sports, joined the throng of supporters who cheered for Hearn after the hearing. 

Van Grack said Hearn has spent decades voluntarily maintaining National Park Service property that the canoeists used as a training course along the Potomac River.

The Washington Monument is visible as a visitor takes a picture of the Reflecting Pool though a chain link fence on the National Mall

Nadine Seiler arrives in an inflatable frog costume, to support former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

‘This is a person who has devoted his life to representing the United States on an international stage, caring for the community and protecting and caring for National Park Service property,’ Van Grack said. 

‘So the idea that he is a malicious destroyer of federal property shocks the conscience and makes no sense to anybody who´s ever known Davey Hearn.’

Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and US Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. 

He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

The pool’s renovation has been riddled with problems. Workers have used devices called nanobubblers to curtail an algae bloom. 

The devices infuse ozone into the water to kill algae and bacteria. Officials have said the pool most likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.

Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. 

Pirro, a former Fox News host who was appointed by Trump, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.

She accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, center, and his attorney Norman Eisen, left, walk to a car following a court appearance, where he pleaded not guilty to allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is seen as clean-up continues on the National Mall following Salute to America

Hearn´s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a ‘concocted narrative’ and ‘should be alarming to every American.’

‘This indictment reflects the administration´s effort to shift blame for their own failures,’ the lawyers said in a statement. ‘The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.’

The President blasted ‘vandals’ on Truth Social for the damage at the renovated pool, as its ‘American flag blue’ had begun to peel away from the bottom. 

‘Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail,’ he wrote.  

Hearn previously told the Daily Mail that his arrest and the charges were a farce intended to boost a false narrative as he shared an image of the pool’s damaged facade.

‘It’s a completely unfounded accusation. It’s a lie,’ Hearn said over the phone. ‘I didn’t rip, tear, destruct, destroy, or harm in any way, any part of the reflecting pool.’ 

Hearn admitted to touching a ‘loose flap of coating,’ but claimed he did so purely because he was ‘curious as a concerned citizen.’ 

President Trump championed the $16 million renovation as part of his goal to beautify Washington, DC, ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.

But less than two weeks after the project was completed, the newly refinished paint job began peeling, and algae blooms turned the water green. 

Burgum said the drainage in order to make the repairs is beginning this week.