Former Olympian David Hearn’s attorneys have demanded that two inspectors general investigate his “nightmare” prosecution.
Hearn’s requests to Justice Department and Interior Department watchdogs fall less than a week after a federal judge permanently dismissed his felony indictment to prevent the federal government from reviving a “meritless, politically driven prosecution.”
In a statement released by Democracy Defenders Fund, Hearn’s attorneys Michael Bromwich, Steve Levin, Norm Eisen, and Mary Dohrmann demand a reckoning.
“The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior subjected an innocent man to a nightmare of wrongful arrest, felony indictment, and public defamation to cover up their own botched, rushed renovation of the Reflecting Pool,” they wrote in a statement. “This administration threw the entire weight of the federal government into prosecuting Davey Hearn, and their actions surrounding his arrest and indictment demand full accountability.”
‘Test of the IG system’
At the same time, Hearn’s attorneys are under no illusions about the current state of once-independent watchdogs.
“We are aware that over the past 20 months, this Administration has removed or forced out approximately 20 non-partisan inspectors general in favor of politically aligned replacements,” their 26-page letter states. “In that regard, the investigations we are requesting constitute a further test of the IG system under this Administration.”
On Jan. 24, 2025, just four days into his second term, Donald Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general.
The Justice Department’s then-longtime inspector general Michael Horowitz survived that purge, but he stepped down in June, leaving a vacancy currently filled by Don R. Berthiaume, Jr. The controversial IG nominee refused during his confirmation to describe the Jan. 6th insurrection as an “attack” on the Capitol, and he was confirmed largely along partisan lines by a 51-47 margin.
‘Full and fair review’
Berthiaume is one of the recipients of the letter demanding an investigation, and the other is the Interior Department’s acting inspector general Caryl Brzymialkiewicz, who replaced her Trump-fired predecessor Mark Lee Greenblatt.
Citing this history, Hearn’s lawyers warned: “The investigations must not be conducted in a partisan fashion, nor result in politically motivated whitewashes, notwithstanding any pressure internal or external to the Administration.”
“Anything less than a full and fair review would be a betrayal of your mission and perpetuate the outrageous mistreatment of Mr. Hearn,” they wrote. “We are prepared to take further steps to assure accountability.”
Hearn’s attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a press inquiry asking what other steps might follow.
Read the 21-page referral letter and four-page appendix here.
Agreed. Mr. Hearn deserves an inquiry and substantiation about what they upended his life for, at the very least.
Norm and his partners, along with Mr Hearn, should be commended.