For David Hearn, the Reflecting Pool case appeared to be over. Then came a new twist… The former Olympian’s lawyers are now asking a judge to make sure the dropped charges cannot come back, warning that political pressure could lead to what they call continued “prosecutorial harassment.”

Hearn’s lawyers have now asked District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman to dismiss the case with prejudice, which would generally prevent prosecutors from bringing the same charges against him again. “Executive Branch officials have continued to advance the narrative – contrary to the evidence and the filings of record in this case – that Mr. Hearn vandalized the Reflecting Pool,” the motion reads.

It also mentioned, “Those public statements, together with reports that the Department of Justice is considering bringing new charges against Mr. Hearn, confirm that the risk of continued prosecutorial harassment is not speculative.”

The legal team’s concerns come after reports that the White House had pushed the Justice Department to explore whether Hearn could face fresh charges. President Donald Trump had also publicly criticized the decision to abandon the prosecution and urged prosecutors to revisit it.

“The public political pressure campaign being conducted through the Executive Branch in this case shows that the government cannot be trusted to properly exercise its prosecutorial discretion,” Hearn’s lawyers wrote Thursday.

The three-time Olympic canoeist was accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after he stopped there during a bike ride in June. Hearn denied intentionally causing any damage and pleaded not guilty after the allegation was upgraded to a felony.

But the case began to unravel when prosecutors discovered evidence pointing toward problems with the pool’s newly installed liner. On July 31, the Department of Justice moved to drop the case, saying the damage was linked to flawed installation by the contractor rather than Hearn.

That should have brought the controversy to an end. Instead, it opened another chapter.

David Hearn’s team demanded to shut down additional charges

Hearn was arrested on June 19 after stopping at the Reflecting Pool during a 52-mile bike ride. According to his account, he reached toward a section of the newly installed blue liner after noticing that it was peeling away.

What initially appeared to prosecutors to be intentional damage eventually became much harder to establish.

When the pool was drained for repairs in July, officials found widespread problems with the liner. Prosecutors subsequently obtained information from the Interior Department indicating that the installation itself had been flawed.

As per Hearn’s statement to NBC News, “The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.”

However, the discovery of flawed installation changed the direction of the case…

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office ultimately sought dismissal of the felony indictment, concluding that the evidence pointed toward contractor error. Judge Edelman then dismissed the case and canceled Hearn’s scheduled September trial.

But the dismissal was without prejudice.

For Hearn’s lawyers, that distinction matters. They argued that leaving the door open could allow the government to revive the prosecution later, particularly amid continued political criticism of the decision.

Attorney Steven Levin said the government “did the right thing” by abandoning the prosecution, but argued that it had done so “the wrong way.” Hearn’s legal team has also pointed to the public statements surrounding the case as evidence that the former Olympian could remain vulnerable to renewed prosecution.

Trump had repeatedly argued that vandalism occurred at the pool and criticized Pirro for dropping Hearn’s case. On Aug. 9, however, the president acknowledged that there had been “some contractor error done by rushing the job” ahead of the July 4 deadline.

The admission echoed the explanation prosecutors had given for abandoning the case.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged that the Justice Department is considering whether another legal route could be used against Hearn. No new charges have been announced, and any discussions remain preliminary.

That uncertainty is precisely what Hearn’s attorneys want to eliminate…

The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4, when Judge Edelman is expected to hear arguments over whether Hearn’s case should finally be dismissed with prejudice.