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EXCLUSIVE: Two USA Fencing board of administrators members are suing the opposite six members, alleging chair Damien Lehfeldt made false statements to congress at a Might 7 Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) subcommittee listening to on transgender athletes.
The lawsuit, which seeks to have Lehfeldt eliminated as USA Fencing chair, was filed on USA Fencing’s behalf by the 2 plaintiff members.
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Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) (L) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) (R) discuss an alleged screenshot from the Instagram of USA Fencing board director Damien Lehfeldt through the listening to on “Unfair Play: Holding Males Out of Ladies’s Sports activities” held by the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) Subcommittee on the U.S. Capitol on Might 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Photographs)
The plaintiffs, Andrey Geva and Abdel Salem, every have lengthy ties to the game and group.
Geva is a former U.S. Nationwide Coach who led the U.S. Ladies’s Épée Crew on the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, earlier than being elected to the board in 2024. Abdel competed for Egypt in particular person and workforce épée occasions on the 1984 Summer time Olympics, the previous head fencing coach of the U.S. Air Pressure Academy, and in 1996 was named the U.S. Olympic Committee Coach of the 12 months.
Now, they’re taking the group to court docket after alleging Lefheldt falsely introduced Geva’s resignation from the board at a gathering on June 7, and over a number of allegations involving the Might 7 Doge listening to.
The Might listening to was known as in response to a viral incident the place girls’s fencer Stephanie Turner kneeled to protest a transgender opponent, and was subsequently punished by USA Fencing. Lefheldt was the lone determine to testify on behalf of the group.
The lawsuit claims Lehfeldt made “false and deceptive claims” on the listening to, which now threat the group being declassified as a nationwide governing physique (NGB).
“Defendant Lehfeldt’s non-corporative demeanor in unhealthy religion and untruthful and deceptive statements on the congressional listening to on Might 7, (2025) has prompted the Congress to contemplate decertifying USFA as an NGB, thus doubtlessly risking Crew USA’s qualification within the 2028 Los Angeles Summer time Olympic Recreation,” the lawsuit states.
“His lies have alienated 1000’s of members within the fencing neighborhood who’ve offered greater than 90% of USFA’s revenues.”
Geva claims he tried to talk on the listening to as properly, however alleges he confronted “threats” aimed to “deter” him from it. Geva finally submitted a letter to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Might 2, expressing “opinion on organic males’s benefit over girls in fencing.” Cruz’s workplace had just lately opened an investigation into USA Fencing over its transgender eligibility coverage after the Turner incident.
The letter was then referenced through the DOGE listening to by subcommittee chairwoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene.
“‘Transgender girls’s fencers have important competitions in girls’s competitions,’ he writes,” Greene stated through the listening to, studying from Geva’s letter.
The lawsuit alleges Geva was then messaged by a fellow board member, blaming him for his trustworthy private opinion, after which two board members known as for a “particular board assembly supposed to take away or in any other case self-discipline Plaintiff Geva.”
WHO IS STEPHANIE TURNER? WOMEN’S FENCER WHO KNELT TO PROTEST TRANS OPPONENT AND IGNITED GLOBAL AWARENESS
USA Fencing has acknowledged the lawsuit in an announcement to Fox Information Digital.
“USA Fencing proudly serves its members — athletes, coaches, referees and golf equipment — throughout our neighborhood with absolute transparency and integrity. This spinoff lawsuit misrepresents our group, and we’ll vigorously defend the group in court docket; any try to disparage them shall be addressed appropriately,” the assertion learn.
“As a result of litigation is ongoing, we can’t focus on particulars. Our focus stays unwavering: advancing fencing nationwide, supporting each member’s success, and upholding the values of the Olympic and Paralympic motion.”
The group has been below immense nationwide scrutiny following the discharge of the footage of Turner’s protest on April 2.
Lefheldt’s testimony on the Might 7 listening to solely intensified the criticism.
Lehfeldt, who was subpoenaed and didn’t come voluntarily, made elevated the controversy forward of the listening to with a sequence of Instagram tales that have been later blown up and used in opposition to him on the committee flooring. In a single publish, which went viral earlier than the listening to, he responded to a query that requested whether or not he was “okay” with placing feminine fencers at an obstacle with a easy, brash reply: “Yeah.”
Then, through the listening to, Lehfeldt admitted a number of instances he regretted answering that manner and admitted the query required a “more-nuanced” response.
At one level through the listening to, Lefheldt confessed to falsifying an e mail from a fictitious fencing mom “Dorothy” who disagreed with him and known as these members with comparable view of “Dorothy” “grand wizard” of Ku Klux Klan.
“It was a poor try at humor,” Lehfeldt stated.
Rep. Tim Burhcett, R-Tenn., requested Lehfeldt whether or not he would let his daughter fence in opposition to “a person.” Lehfeldt urged he would enable it whereas boasting about his group’s security precautions.
“So long as the competitor has met all of the hormonal necessities and complies with the coverage, I might be okay with it,” Lehfeldt stated.
Later within the listening to, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., urged that Lehfeldt was “not” a person for his group’s gender eligibility coverage.
“Actual males defend girls, you are not one,” Mace stated.
Mace even requested Lehfeldt to easily apologize to Turner for punishing the fencer, to which the chair declined and identified that Turner obtained a black card for her refusal.
Turner instructed Fox Information Digital after the DOGE listening to that she would work to foyer management modifications to USA Fencing after stepping away from the game.
“I will be pushing for folks to resign, to be trustworthy. I might prefer to see some folks resign for the feedback that they’ve made, particularly publicly, ones which are harassing and meant to humiliate involved girls, moms and daughters,” Turner stated.
Now, two members on the board of administrators have joined that trigger.
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Amid the continuing scrutiny, USA Fencing’s board voted to amend its present coverage that prioritized states with LGBTQ-friendly legal guidelines for host websites for competitions and a coverage which will have prevented the taking part in of the nationwide anthem at some occasions, at its June 7 assembly.
The earlier insurance policies turned one of many group’s largest factors of criticism after Turner’s viral protest.
USA Fencing has declined to clarify the motivation behind the modifications.
“It could be inappropriate for employees to invest on the non-public motivations of USA Fencing’s volunteer Board of Administrators,” a USA Fencing spokesperson instructed Fox Information Digital.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports activities author for Fox Information Digital. He beforehand labored for ESPN and Enterprise Insider. Jackson has coated the Tremendous Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
