I'll start with a bit of good news: on Friday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia announced that her office was dropping its charges against my friend David Hearn, a world champion and three-time U.S. Olympian in whitewater slalom. In her motion to dismiss, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro noted
Based upon the initial reports provided by the Department of the Interior (“DOI”) and the USS. Park Police (“USPP”), the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (“USAO-DC") presented the grand jury with evidence that damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by vandals, including the defendant in this case, David Hearn. However, it was not until after the return of the indictment, that the DOI provided additional document.
While shrugging the blame off onto other agencies, Ms. Pirro provided no acknowledgement that her office had gone off half-cocked without a full grasp of the facts. She certainly conveyed no remorse that I could discern. At the very least, the government, including his ultimate accuser in the White House, owes Davey an apology. But I expect none will be forthcoming.
Many are urging Davey to sue for the damages he's suffered as a result of this baseless indictment. To be sure, he was forced to spend time and money that he'll never get back, and he admitted in an interview with The Atlantic that he was suffering mental stress as well. Maybe he'll sue, but then again I can understand completely if he'd rather just put this all behind him and get on with his life. The saddest thing is that Davey is almost certainly not the last person who will be subjected to this kind of harassment.
Hopefully right now Davey is just out there doing his thing, and that probably includes some bike riding (his preferred athletic pursuit in his post-Olympic life). I'm trying to do my thing as much as possible, too, and for me that still involves paddling a boat. Yesterday I was feeling sort of tired and sluggish, and I did a fairly easy 50-minute paddle in the harbor and out on the Mississippi. Some cooler, more pleasant weather has moved in here, with the Fahrenheit temperature expected to stay below 90 degrees at least through tomorrow.
This morning I still wasn't feeling much giddy-up. Fortunately, with a race coming up next weekend I can keep the sessions short. I stayed in the harbor and paddled for 40 minutes, doing a set of eight 12-stroke sprints at two-minute intervals. It was one of those sessions that had me feeling better afterward than I'd felt before.
For more information on what this blog is about, click here.
