from the hi-we're-from-the-'how-high'-department dept

Judge Demands Answers From DOJ For Refusing To Dismiss Reflecting Pool Case With Prejudice

There are multiple things this administration is incapable of doing: winning wars, curbing inflation, not acting like Nazis, wearing shoes that fit them, etc. But if there’s one thing it’s most known for, it’s the unwillingness to take a loss and move on.

That’s why the DOJ is still trying to imprison/jettison into a war-torn African nation its first spectacular failure: Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. And that’s why — multiple attempts and several million dollars later — Trump is still pretending what happened to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool were acts of vandalism, rather than the shoddy work of his preferred contractors. Those facts are on the permanent record, supplied by his own DOJ and his handpicked US Attorney (and former Fox News personality, natch) Jeanine Pirro.

The DOJ claimed Doug Burgum’s Interior Department lied to it when it moved to dismiss federal vandalism charges against former Olympian David Hearn. To his credit(?), Burgum has been nothing if not consistent. Burgum continued to spread the lies. And Trump has continued to double-down on his bogus “vandals” claims since the DOJ dropped the charges.

The continuing problems aren’t limited to Burgum’s and Trump’s constant lies. The main problem for David Hearn is that the DOJ can always try to run him through the court system again. While the DOJ made it clear any damage was due to poor workmanship, it refused to dismiss the charges with prejudice — something that would have prevented the DOJ from re-charging Hearn in response to White House pressure and/or a series of hirings/firings meant to replace Pirro with someone more sycophantic.

While the DOJ may have an infinite amount of time and money to blow on stroking off Trump’s revenge fantasies, its lawyers have been learning repeatedly that federal judges have a finite amount of patience for their constant bullshit.

Hearn’s legal team has refused to let this case go simply because the DOJ has refused to let this case go. It has asked the court to bring the DOJ back to explain why it won’t dismiss the charges with prejudice, even after publicly admitting any alleged “vandalism” was simply the end result of shitty pool repair work.

The DOJ still refuses to take this step, which has naturally resulted in DOJ lawyers being berated by yet another exasperated federal judge:

Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman asked assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Spence how he was supposed to look at the president’s statements about David Hearn, one of his attorneys and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro as “anything other than [Trump] 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.” 

“Isn’t this a unique threat of meritless re-prosecution?” Edelman said. 

You’ll notice it’s US Attorney Michael Spence now handling this case, since Pirro has been sidelined (but not officially fired) for refusing to engage in a malicious prosecution on Trump’s behalf. In return for Pirro momentarily demonstrating better judgment and displaying some respect for her office, Trump has repeatedly maligned her in public comments and Truth Social posts.

That leaves Spence with nothing but the dirtiest of dirty work — ensuring the Hearn prosecution remains on life support until Oval Office pressure forces him to move forward with “meritless re-prosecution,” to quote Judge Edelman.

Spence had nowhere to go. Having been painted into the corner by the administration that currently employs him, all he could do was offer up a weak non-rebuttal that kind of throws Trump under the Truth Social bus he’s driving, while being as noncommittal as possible about the future of the Hearn prosecution:

Spence replied only that Trump’s statements “speak for themselves,” while also arguing it was premature to discuss that hypothetical notion because no further grand jury action had happened.

Bro, this discussion isn’t “premature.” Rights are there to be protected, rather than just vindicated after the fact. The court isn’t obligated to allow the DOJ to engage in a malicious re-prosecution before it can draw inferences from the administration’s actions and statements. Courts aren’t just there to clean up the messes the other branches make. They can also block the government from moving ahead with planned rights violations.

US Attorney Spence is saying as little as he can in hopes of saving a job that’s probably not worth having. The future will only hold worse things for anyone who thinks it’s possible to appease both Trump and an apparently never-ending series of annoyed federal judges. 30 seconds of boiler plate editing is all it would take to end the Hearn saga for good. But Spence — and the cowards who work with him — will never close this case because Trump won’t be happy until he’s put someone — anyone! — in jail for botching a job he’d spent months bragging about.