White House officials have formally requested that the Department of Justice (DOJ) assess the possibility of pursuing a new prosecution against the individual accused of defacing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. This request follows the federal prosecutors’ decision to drop felony charges against him, a move learned by Fox News.

Previously, on July 31, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office dismissed charges against Olympic canoeist David Hearn. He was accused of damaging a $14 million renovation project after defects like cracks and algae were identified. The Department of the Interior found these issues were due to installation flaws, not vandalism.

The White House’s inquiry aims to see if Hearn can face a misdemeanor charge, as initially disclosed by The Wall Street Journal. A final decision is pending, Fox News reports.

President Donald Trump has pushed for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to reconsider the dismissed charges related to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s vandalism. His comments came after federal prosecutors admitted insufficient evidence in the initial case.

If true, it would mark a shocking first: a case that the DOJ lost by its own admission because it lacked the evidence to convict, returning from the dead. This would add another bizarre turn to a sad chapter in the DOJ’s history and further harass an innocent man, Hearn’s attorneys commented. Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group, and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP released this statement.

While the case was dismissed without prejudice, leaving room for charges to be reinstated, the Trump administration insists the damage results from vandalism. Trump claimed the pool’s material bore knife-inflicted slashes and alleged witnesses saw individuals kneeling at these spots with hands in the water.

U.S. Park Police identified Hearn as a suspect after he was reportedly seen manipulating a loose section of the pool’s coating on June 19, despite warnings from National Park Service staff to stop. The damage, valued at about $1,000, led to Hearn’s indictment on a felony charge for property destruction on July 2.

Trump urged Pirro to reassess her quick decision to drop the felony charge, criticizing Hearn’s ties to the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. He labeled the platform a scam and described Norm Eisen, Hearn’s lawyer, as a political operative. Trump claimed Pirro choked under judicial pressure, causing her to fold like an umbrella.