The federal government’s highly publicized renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool fell short of Donald Trump’s lofty visions as algae-plagued water and the pool’s peeling coating prompted the president to blame the unsightly damage on alleged vandals he vowed to prosecute.

But the Justice Department’s most prominent case — the one against a former Olympic canoeist — hit a significant snag this week when a witness asserted that the pool was already damaged prior to the accused’s involvement.

Lawyers for David Hearn, a 67-year-old who represented the United States at three Olympic Games, submitted a court filing seeking access to transcripts of the grand jury testimony as well as the instructions given to the panel that ultimately indicted Hearn, claiming that there were “irregularities” in the proceedings that led to the indictment. Earlier this month, a federal grand jury indicted Hearn on one felony count of destruction of property as prosecutors alleged that he reached into........

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