WASHINGTON– A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty Thursday to deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial’s newly renovated reflecting pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other critics of the Trump administration have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.

David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, pleaded guilty during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of destruction of property.

President Donald Trump ordered a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday this month, but the project has been plagued with problems. Workers have used chemicals to stop algae blooms. Trump has said the pool would likely need to be drained again to repair the liner after chunks of blue liner were seen floating on the surface.

Trump has baselessly claimed that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and cut the liner with a box cutter. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the District of Columbia’s top federal prosecutor, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.

Hearn’s lawyers have said the charges against him are based on a “fabricated narrative” and “should be alarming to all Americans.”

“This accusation reflects the administration’s effort to shift the blame for its own failures,” the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”

Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. He said he walked over to examine the freshly peeled liner and briefly touched a piece stuck to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let it go.

Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping off newly installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.