司法部监察长拒绝调查前奥运选手大卫·赫恩的起诉案，据其律师称，司法部曾错误指控他破坏林肯纪念堂倒影池。
The watchdog for the Department of Justice is declining to investigate the prosecution of former Olympian David Hearn, whom the DOJ wrongly accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to his lawyers.
赫恩的法律团队曾请求司法部和内政部的监察长调查所谓的滥用职权，但司法部监察长于10月8日告知该团队，将不会启动调查，理由是监察长缺乏调查权限。据报道，该信函在赫恩律师首次请求独立调查两天后送达。
Hearn’s legal team had asked inspectors general for both the Justice Department and the Department of the Interior to probe what it called an abuse of government, but the DOJ’s watchdog informed the team on Oct. 8 that it would not open an investigation, saying the inspector general lacked authority to do so. That letter reportedly arrived two days after Hearn’s lawyers first asked for the independent probe.
据《MS NOW》获得的一封信函显示，代表赫恩的律师周三对该拒绝决定作出回应，称司法部监察长办公室的说法不正确，且确实拥有“进行行政和刑事调查的管辖权”。
In a letter obtained by MS NOW, lawyers representing Hearn responded to that rejection on Wednesday, writing that the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General was incorrect and did have “jurisdiction to conduct both administrative and criminal investigations.”
信中写道：“司法部监察长办公室拥有完全的法定管辖权，可调查司法部人员涉嫌犯下的罪行。我们10月6日信函中的指控指向的事实，足以对多项潜在罪行展开调查，包括串改证人证词、教唆伪证、妨碍司法公正和刑事侵犯民权。”赫恩的律师还警告称，若无独立调查，可能会产生严重后果。
“The DOJ OIG has plenary statutory jurisdiction to investigate potential crimes committed by DOJ personnel,” the letter says. “The allegations in our October 6 Letter point to facts that warrant an investigation into numerous potential crimes, including witness tampering, subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice, and criminal civil rights violations.”Hearn’s lawyers also warned of potential consequences if there were no independent investigation.
信中称：“鉴于公众对此事的高度关注，以及对联邦官员行为提出的重大质疑，拒绝独立审查将有损公众对司法部自我监管能力的信心。这种结果将与国会设立监察长办公室的初衷相悖，将是对其使命的背叛。”司法部及其监察长未立即回应《MS NOW》的置评请求。
“Given the substantial public attention devoted to this matter, and the significant questions raised concerning the conduct of federal officials, declining independent review would risk undermining public confidence in the Department’s ability to police its own conduct,” the letter said. “Such a result would be inconsistent with the purposes for which Congress established the OIG and would be a betrayal of its mission.”The Department of Justice and its inspector general did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.
美国内政部监察长办公室周二向 MS NOW 表示，他们既不确认也不否认目前正在进行的相关调查。但在 MS NOW 获得的一封信中，该监察机构表示正在考虑 Hearn 的律师提出的请求。
The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior told MS NOW on Tuesday that it does not confirm or deny ongoing investigations. But in a letter obtained by MS NOW, the watchdog office told Hearn’s lawyers it was considering their request.
本月早些时候，代表 Hearn 的律师致函美国司法部监察长，称这位前奥运选手在遭到逮捕后遭遇了“噩梦般的经历”，随后美国检察官 Jeanine Pirro 的办公室以破坏反射池防水层为由对他提起了指控。
Earlier this month, lawyers representing Hearn sent a letter to the inspector general for the Department of Justice, saying the former Olympian had suffered a “nightmare” when he was arrested and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office subsequently charged him with vandalizing the reflecting pool’s liner.
Hearn 的律师指出，政府数周来一直“无视”所有能够证明他无罪的证据，并要求监察机构调查为何检察官会在唐纳德·特朗普总统的政治压力下仓促地对 Hearn 提起公诉。
Hearn’s lawyers allege that the government had “simply ignored” exculpatory evidence for weeks. They asked the watchdog to investigate why prosecutors “rushed to indict” Hearn under what they said was political pressure from President Donald Trump.
律师们在信中写道：“从 6 月 19 日至今，这两个机构的工作人员都存在严重的无能、疏忽和不当行为。此次调查的关键目的在于查明事实，追究那些让 Hearn 遭受不公的人和机构的责任。”
“From June 19 to the present, gross incompetence, negligence, and misconduct have been committed by personnel in both agencies,” the lawyers’ letter said. “A critical purpose of the requested investigations is to collect the facts … to hold accountable the individuals and groups who failed Mr. Hearn, the criminal justice system and the public.
在同一封信中，Hearn 的律师还要求内政部监察长对起诉 Hearn 的决定进行调查。信中指责内政部在明知损坏是由承包商的草率施工造成的情况下，仍支持了对 Hearn 的指控；后来 Pirro 本人也承认了这一点。
In the same letter, lawyers for Hearn had also asked the inspector general for the Department of the Interior to investigate the decision to charge Hearn. The letter accused the department of backing the accusations against Hearn when internal documents showed that the damage was caused by a “rushed and botched installation” by the contractor, as Pirro would later concede.
Hearn 的律师还要求监察长查明内政部长 Doug Burgum 是否知道自己将损坏事件归咎于故意破坏行为的公开声明是虚假的，或者他是否被下属误导而做出了错误的判断。他们同时要求调查人员追究相关人员的责任。
Lawyers for Hearn have asked the department’s inspector general to determine whether Interior Secretary Doug Burgum knew his public statements attributing the damage to vandalism were false or whether he was left in the dark by his staff. They also asked investigators to hold agency personnel accountable for these false claims.
当时，该部门监察长办公室外部事务主任约翰·贝尔（John Bell）对“MS NOW”表示：“与提交给我们办公室的所有材料一样，我们将仔细审查，以确定适当的处理方式。”
At the time, John Bell, the director of external affairs for that department’s inspector general, told MS NOW, “As with all submissions to our office, we will review it carefully to determine the appropriate course of action.”
7月2日，在一次新闻发布会上，皮罗指控赫恩“强行且暴力地”破坏泳池，并称她办公室的检察官掌握“排除合理怀疑”的证据。这些指控呼应了特朗普关于泳池遭破坏者损毁的说法。在关于翻修工程搞砸的尴尬媒体报道接踵而至之际，总统反复提出这些毫无根据的指控。
At a news conference on July 2, Pirro accused Hearn of “forcefully and violently” vandalizing the pool and said that prosecutors in her office had proof “beyond a reasonable doubt.”Those accusations echoed Trump’s claims that the pool had been damaged by vandals. The president repeatedly made these unfounded claims amid a flurry of embarrassing media coverage about the botched renovation.
赫恩于7月初被控一项重罪毁坏财产罪。他作无罪抗辩。但到月底，皮罗以新证据显示泳池受损系因承包商赶工安装所致而非破坏行为为由，动议撤销刑事案件。
Hearn had been charged with one felony count of destruction of property in early July. He pleaded not guilty. But by the end of the month, Pirro moved to dismiss the criminal case, citing new evidence that the damage to the pool was caused by a rushed contractor installation rather than vandalism.
皮罗称，内政部“在案件初期提供的信息不够充分”。她指控该部门隐瞒了显示破坏完全归因于承包商失误的文件，且她直到办公室起诉赫恩数周后才收到这些文件。
Pirro said the Department of the Interior “provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case.”She alleges that the department withheld documents that revealed that the destruction was completely because of contractor error and that she did not receive those documents until weeks after her office indicted Hearn.
“如果内政部能主动提供其明确掌握的信息，政府就不会寻求大陪审团起诉，”皮罗在一份法庭文件中写道。皮罗撤案的决定招致了总统的愤怒。
“Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” Pirro wrote in a court filing Pirro’s decision to drop the case drew the president’s ire.
“我完全不同意哥伦比亚特区联邦检察官珍妮娜·皮罗（Jeanine Pirro）对‘Reflecting Pool’事件的看法。她到底在想什么？”特朗普在 Truth Social 上写道。“在我看来，这完全就是一起故意破坏公物的行为；草坪上用巨大的字母写着‘86 47’，周围的环境也遭到了严重破坏。虽然施工过程中可能存在一些问题，但主要的破坏行为确实是由故意破坏公物的人造成的！”在皮罗决定撤销诉讼后，伯格姆（Burgum）仍在自己的帖子中坚持这一观点。
“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking?”Trump posted on Truth Social. “To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area. There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”Burgum also doubled down on these accusations in a post on after Pirro moved to drop the case.
“证据非常清楚：破坏者多次对‘Reflecting Pool’进行了破坏，其中一些行为甚至被摄像头拍了下来，”他的帖子中写道。“哥伦比亚特区高等法院法官托德·埃德尔曼（Todd Edelman）最终以‘偏见’为由驳回了这起诉讼，这意味着政府不能再重新提起指控。”
“The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool,” his post read. “Some of these acts were even caught on camera.”D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman ultimately dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the government cannot revive the charges.
如果大卫·赫恩（David Hearn）被定罪，他可能会面临最高 10 年的监禁。
Hearn could have faced up to 10 years in prison if he had been convicted.
大卫·赫恩的律师表示，司法部的监督机构不会调查这次起诉失败的原因；不过，美国内政部的监察长（Interior IG）目前正在考虑对此事进行进一步调查。
The post David Hearn lawyers say DOJ watchdog won’t probe failed prosecution — but Interior IG is considering MS NOW