Really American
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9 hours ago
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THIS IS HUGE: A federal judge just permanently dismissed the Reflecting Pool charges against Olympian David Hearn, and he cited Trump's own pressure as the reason the case can never come back.
Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the case with prejudice on Thursday, which means the government can't bring those charges against Hearn again.
The Justice Department had already moved to drop the case after new evidence showed the damage to the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial was caused during renovations. But prosecutors wanted to keep the option of charging him again.
The judge said no.
"In securing the Indictment against Mr. Hearn, the government shot first and asked questions later. Nothing about the grand jury process would prevent it from giving in to the President's pressure and doing so again."
Think about that.
A federal judge looked at what Trump has been saying about this case and decided the only way to protect an innocent man was to shut the door for good.
And the judge didn't stop there.
He pointed out that Trump has publicly ridiculed the decision by DC U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office to drop the charges, and even "publicly entertained the possibility of firing" her over it.
He wrote that the prosecutors on the case deemed it meritless, but that "the President of the United States has repeatedly disparaged them and pressured them to change course."
Read that again.
Hearn's team called the ruling "a victory for the rule of law and for an innocent American seeking justice."
An Olympian was charged. The evidence showed he didn't do it. The President kept pushing anyway. And a judge stood up and said enough.
