'NOT YOU!' US ATTORNEY PIRRO GOES OFF ON REPORTER IN WILD PRESSER
‘NOT YOU!’ — JEANINE PIRRO SHUTS DOWN REPORTER DURING HEATED REFLECTING POOL PRESS CONFERENCE
The U.S. attorney refused to engage when a reporter compared the felony prosecution of a former Olympian with the Trump administration’s treatment of Jan. 6 defendants.
WASHINGTON — A Justice Department press conference called to announce charges over alleged damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool took a sharp turn when U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro abruptly cut off a reporter who questioned whether the prosecution reflected a double standard.
Pirro was discussing the indictment of David Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympic canoe racer from Bethesda, Maryland. Prosecutors allege that Hearn deliberately pulled away part of the newly installed blue sealant lining the bottom of the Reflecting Pool on June 19. A D.C. Superior Court grand jury indicted him on one felony count of destruction of property.
The briefing became heated when a reporter attempted to compare the government’s aggressive handling of Hearn’s case with President Donald Trump’s pardons of people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
As the reporter referred to the number of rioters and the damage caused during the Capitol attack, Pirro interrupted.
“Are you really talking about January 6?” she asked, making clear that she would not discuss the comparison. Pirro then called for another question and rejected the same reporter with the words that quickly went viral: “Not you.”
The exchange lasted only seconds, but it became the defining moment of the press conference. Pirro’s supporters praised her for keeping the briefing focused on the Reflecting Pool case. Critics argued that the reporter had raised a legitimate question about whether federal prosecutors were applying the law consistently.
Pirro promises consequences for monument damage
Pirro presented the prosecution as part of a broader effort to protect Washington’s monuments and public spaces ahead of celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary.
The Justice Department said President Trump’s renovation initiative included work on more than 50 parks, 48 monuments and 22 fountains. Pirro argued that deliberately damaging newly restored property undermined that work and disrespected sites belonging to the American public.
According to Pirro, Hearn used both hands to pull up the pool’s new coating, caused more than $1,000 in damage and behaved belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop. She described the government’s evidence as substantial and said several other people had been arrested on misdemeanor allegations connected to the pool.
Hearn has offered a sharply different account.
He told The Associated Press that he stopped at the pool during a long bicycle ride and reached into the water only to examine a section of coating that was already peeling away. Hearn said he briefly touched the loose material and released it when a park employee instructed him to do so.
His attorneys accused the administration of constructing a misleading account to blame an individual citizen for problems surrounding the renovation. They characterized the felony prosecution as an abuse of government power and maintained that the evidence against their client was weak.
A politically charged prosecution
The case has attracted unusual attention partly because the Reflecting Pool renovation itself has encountered significant difficulties. The project has faced problems involving algae and damage to the newly applied coating, with officials indicating that the pool might need to be drained again for repairs.
Trump publicly blamed vandals for some of the damage, although AP reported that several of his broader allegations—including claims involving fertilizer and a box cutter—were not accompanied by supporting evidence.
That backdrop made the reporter’s Jan. 6 comparison particularly explosive. The question was not whether damage to a national monument should be ignored. It was whether the same administration was displaying vastly different levels of outrage depending on who was accused and what political cause surrounded the conduct.
Pirro declined to enter that debate.
Hearn later pleaded not guilty during his July 9 appearance in D.C. Superior Court. He remains presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
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The news conference was intended to send a warning about vandalism.
Instead, Pirro’s terse “Not you” transformed it into a wider argument about prosecutorial judgment, political loyalty and whether justice in Washington is being enforced equally—or selectively.
