Latest news with #DamienLehfeldt
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Woke USA Fencing chief sued by his own sport's Olympic coach as ugly trans controversy takes new twist
The USA Fencing executive who previously said 'neither sex has any inherent advantage' in competition has been sued by the sport's former Olympic coach. Following a transgender controversy in the sport earlier this year, in which fencer Stephanie Turner refused to compete against a trans opponent, USA Fencing Chair Damien Lehfeldt spoke at a congressional hearing on May 7. Lehfeldt refused to answer whether he would 'want (his) daughter to change in front of biological men in locker rooms.' He also said that USA fencing aims 'to have tournaments in sites that are safe for all of our members,' when pressed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on why USA Fencing's 'site selection policy' for tournaments takes into account an area's policies on abortion and LGBT rights. Now, Lehfeldt is being sued by former Olympic coach and USA Fencing board member Andrey Geva, alleging that the chair's comments at the hearing were 'false and misleading' according to Fox News Digital. Among Geva's issues with Lehfeldt's comments in front of lawmakers was his reference to 'mixed-gender competition where men and women have safely and fairly competed against each other for decades.' The recent trans controversy in the sport stems from Stephanie Turner (right) refusing to compete against a trans opponent 'It's a misleading statement,' Geva said. 'Yes, at practice, men and women fence each other, no problem. 'Local tournament, not designated, not sanctioned tournaments sometimes will have mixed events. Sometimes when a female competition doesn't have enough competition we will have mixed events. 'However, there is zero mixed events on the national level.' USA Fencing does sanction mixed local events. Geva also objected to Lehfeldt's previous comments to Fox News in which he said: 'women more commonly exhibit other advantageous traits such as flexibility and agility. Ultimately, fencing is a sport of strategy and technique. 'Those elements will most frequently determine who prevails and, when it comes to strategy and technique, neither sex has any inherent advantage transgender status thus, doesn't appear to confer any inherent advantage over a cisgender fencer cisgender women have beaten,' Lehfeldt continued. Geva shot back: 'This is simply not true, and this is what I told him many times, that I have an expertise as somebody who successfully coached both male and female fencers at the highest international level. 'I trained them differently. I have a different approach to male and female fencers because they are different.' According to the lawsuit filed by Geva, who coached USA Fencing at the Rio Olympics and Tokyo Olympics, Lehfeldt's statements 'have alienated thousands of members in the fencing community who have provided more than 90% of USFA's revenues.' The lawsuit also said that Lehfeldt's comments could see USA Fencing lose its classification as a national governing body of the sport, while Geva added that some fencing clubs have quit the organization because of its policies. In a statement to Fox, USA Fencing called the lawsuit 'derivative' and said it 'misrepresents our organization.' The organization previously said that it would 'always err on the side of inclusion' in the sport, though it was 'committed to amending the policy as more relevant evidence-based research emerges.' The sport's transgender controversy stems from Turner's refusal to compete against a trans opponent, Redmond Sullivan, at the Cherry Blossom Open in April. Turner took a knee and removed her mask, ultimately earning a disqualification from the tournament. Despite uproar around Turner's disqualification from the event, USA Fencing issued a statement justifying its decision while supporting Sullivan, 20, and the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports. And earlier this month, directors at USA Fencing reportedly voted on changes surrounding LGBTQ-friendly sites and the national anthem at a board meeting. The organization announced in an official statement that it has 'adopted a streamlined policy that applies criteria prioritizing cost, safety and convenience to every national-event bid across all 50 states.' The new policy is said to ensure host cities meet 'stringent member-safety and cost-efficiency standards.' The previous host site policy gave preference to cities without laws that 'harm members of the LGBTQ communities' and states that do not 'have laws undermining the reproductive health of women'. States on the 'do not allow' list included Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
Fox News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Former US Olympic coach opens up on suing USA Fencing board amid trans athlete policy disagreements
EXCLUSIVE: Former U.S. Olympic fencing team head coach Andrey Geva has filed a lawsuit against USA Fencing Chair Damien Lehfeldt, alleging Lehfeldt made "false and misleading" statements to Congress in a May 7 congressional hearing on trans athletes. Geva, a USA Fencing board member, filed the lawsuit alongside fellow member and former Egyptian Olympian Abdel Salem, against Lehfeldt and the other five at-large director members. The lawsuit seeks to have Lehfeldt removed as chair. Geva has elaborated on those alleged false comments he claims Lehfeldt made in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. Geva pointed to a statement by Lehfeldt, when the chair said, "women more commonly exhibit other advantageous traits such as flexibility and agility. Ultimately, fencing is a sport of strategy and technique. Those elements will most frequently determine who prevails and, when it comes to strategy and technique, neither sex has any inherent advantage transgender status thus, doesn't appear to confer any inherent advantage over a cisgender fencer cisgender women have beaten." As a former Olympic fencing coach, Geva believes this statement is untrue. Geva served as Team USA's head fencing coach and managing director from 2013-21, leading the team through the 2016 Rio Olympics and Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The U.S. took six Olympic medals under Geva's leadership, including gold in the women's individual foil in Tokyo. "This is simply not true, and this is what I told him many times, that I have an expertise as somebody who successfully coached both male and female fencers at the highest international level," Geva said, later referring to how he trained his own male and female students. "I trained them differently. I have a different approach to male and female fencers because they are different." Geva also argued that Lefheldt made a "misleading" statement when the chair referenced "mixed-gender competition where men and women have safely and fairly competed against each other for decades," due to the fact that mixed-gender competitions are rare at the national level. "It's a misleading statement. Yes, at practice, men and women fence each other, no problem. Local tournament, not designated, not sanctioned tournaments sometimes will have mixed events. Sometimes when a female competition doesn't have enough competition we will have mixed events," Geva said. "However, there is zero mixed events on the national level." USA Fencing has official separate national events for men's and women's categories. The organization sanctions mixed-gender events at the local level, per the official policy page. USA Fencing responded to Geva's lawsuit in a statement provided to Fox News Digital, but the organization declined to address his recent comments. "USA Fencing proudly serves its members — athletes, coaches, referees and clubs — across our community with absolute transparency and integrity. This derivative lawsuit misrepresents our organization, and we will vigorously defend the organization in court; any attempt to disparage them will be addressed appropriately," the statement read. "Because litigation is ongoing, we cannot discuss details. Our focus remains unwavering: advancing fencing nationwide, supporting every member's success, and upholding the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement." The lawsuit claims that Lehfeldt's statements at the May 7 hearing now risk the organization being declassified as a national governing body and "have alienated thousands of members in the fencing community who have provided more than 90% of USFA's revenues." Geva told Fox News Digital that he has communicated with several private clubs associated with USA Fencing that have left the organization in response to its current transgender legibility policy that allows biological males to compete in women's competitions, and moved to the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)'s Fencing League of America. "Because of the USA Fencing policies, some of the clubs actually quit, small clubs, they quit USA Fencing membership and they moved to AAU," Geva said, adding that the clubs quit for other reasons as well. "I know quite a few clubs that quit membership in USA Fencing." Geva declined to name the clubs he claimed had quit. An unnamed source within the USA Fencing organization argued that the organization has seen record growth in the past year. "The season that is ending next month (2024-25) is a record year for USA Fencing with more than 43,000 members and nearly 750 clubs — both records. So that goes against any claims that we've 'taken a hit' from any news," the source said. Geva also said that the organization is growing, but "for different reasons." "Overall, our federation is growing, but this is mostly due to, like any organization, it's natural growth. It's very hard to judge if it's growing because we're doing excellent job, or just because more and more people discover that fencing is the niche and the way to get to college," Geva said. The organization has been under immense national scrutiny following a viral incident when women's fencer Stephanie Turner kneeled to protest a transgender opponent and was subsequently punished by USA Fencing. Lefheldt's testimony at the May 7 hearing only intensified the criticism. Lehfeldt, who was subpoenaed and did not come voluntarily, elevated the controversy ahead of the hearing with a series of Instagram stories that were later blown up and used against him on the committee floor. In one post, which went viral before the hearing, he responded to a question that asked whether he was "okay" with putting female fencers at a disadvantage with a simple, brash answer: "Yeah." Then, during the hearing, Lehfeldt admitted multiple times he regretted answering that way and admitted the question required a "more-nuanced" response. At one point during the hearing, Lefheldt confessed to falsifying an email from a fictitious fencing mother, "Dorothy," who disagreed with him and called those members with similar views of "Dorothy" "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan. Lehfeldt said the post "was a poor attempt at humor." Geva believes the post should be enough to prompt Lehfeldt's resignation. "This is more than enough, any decent person in my opinion, after this fiasco at this congressional hearing, should resign," Geva said. "I believe under his leadership our federation is going just in the wrong direction." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
USA Fencing board faces lawsuit alleging chair made false statements at DOGE hearing on trans athletes
EXCLUSIVE: Two USA Fencing board of directors members are suing the other six members, alleging chair Damien Lehfeldt made false statements to congress at a May 7 Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee hearing on transgender athletes. The lawsuit, which seeks to have Lehfeldt removed as USA Fencing chair, was filed on USA Fencing's behalf by the two plaintiff members. The plaintiffs, Andrey Geva and Abdel Salem, each have long ties to the sport and organization. Geva is a former U.S. National Coach who led the U.S. Women's Épée Team at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, before being elected to the board in 2024. Abdel competed for Egypt in individual and team épée events at the 1984 Summer Olympics, the former head fencing coach of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and in 1996 was named the U.S. Olympic Committee Coach of the Year. Now, they are taking the organization to court after alleging Lefheldt falsely announced Geva's resignation from the board at a meeting on June 7, and over several allegations involving the May 7 Doge hearing. The May hearing was called in response to a viral incident where women's fencer Stephanie Turner kneeled to protest a transgender opponent, and was subsequently punished by USA Fencing. Lefheldt was the lone figure to testify on behalf of the organization. The lawsuit claims Lehfeldt made "false and misleading claims" at the hearing, which now risk the organization being declassified as a national governing body (NGB). "Defendant Lehfeldt's non-corporative demeanor in bad faith and untruthful and misleading statements at the congressional hearing on May 7, [2025] has prompted the Congress to consider decertifying USFA as an NGB, thus potentially risking Team USA's qualification in the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Game," the lawsuit states. "His lies have alienated thousands of members in the fencing community who have provided more than 90% of USFA's revenues." Geva claims he attempted to speak at the hearing as well, but alleges he faced "threats" aimed to "deter" him from it. Geva ultimately submitted a letter to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on May 2, expressing "opinion on biological men's advantage over women in fencing." Cruz's office had recently opened an investigation into USA Fencing over its transgender eligibility policy after the Turner incident. The letter was then referenced during the DOGE hearing by subcommittee chairwoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene. "'Transgender women's fencers have significant competitions in women's competitions,' he writes," Greene said during the hearing, reading from Geva's letter. The lawsuit alleges Geva was then messaged by a fellow board member, blaming him for his honest personal opinion, and then two board members called for a "special board meeting intended to remove or otherwise discipline Plaintiff Geva." USA Fencing has acknowledged the lawsuit in a statement to Fox News Digital. "USA Fencing proudly serves its members — athletes, coaches, referees and clubs — across our community with absolute transparency and integrity. This derivative lawsuit misrepresents our organization, and we will vigorously defend the organization in court; any attempt to disparage them will be addressed appropriately," the statement read. "Because litigation is ongoing, we cannot discuss details. Our focus remains unwavering: advancing fencing nationwide, supporting every member's success, and upholding the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement." The organization has been under immense national scrutiny following the release of the footage of Turner's protest on April 2. Lefheldt's testimony at the May 7 hearing only intensified the criticism. Lehfeldt, who was subpoenaed and did not come voluntarily, made elevated the controversy ahead of the hearing with a series of Instagram stories that were later blown up and used against him on the committee floor. In one post, which went viral before the hearing, he responded to a question that asked whether he was "okay" with putting female fencers at a disadvantage with a simple, brash answer: "Yeah." Then, during the hearing, Lehfeldt admitted multiple times he regretted answering that way and admitted the question required a "more-nuanced" response. At one point during the hearing, Lefheldt confessed to falsifying an email from a fictitious fencing mother "Dorothy" who disagreed with him and called those members with similar view of "Dorothy" "grand wizard" of Ku Klux Klan. "It was a poor attempt at humor," Lehfeldt said. Rep. Tim Burhcett, R-Tenn., asked Lehfeldt whether he would let his daughter fence against "a man." Lehfeldt suggested he would allow it while boasting about his organization's safety precautions. "As long as the competitor has met all the hormonal requirements and complies with the policy, I would be okay with it," Lehfeldt said. Later in the hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., suggested that Lehfeldt was "not" a man for his organization's gender eligibility policy. "Real men protect women, you're not one," Mace said. Mace even asked Lehfeldt to simply apologize to Turner for punishing the fencer, to which the chair declined and pointed out that Turner received a black card for her refusal. Turner told Fox News Digital after the DOGE hearing that she would work to lobby leadership changes to USA Fencing after stepping away from the sport. "I'm going to be pushing for people to resign, to be honest. I'd like to see some people resign for the comments that they've made, especially publicly, ones that are harassing and meant to humiliate concerned women, mothers and daughters," Turner said. Now, two members on the board of directors have joined that cause. Amid the ongoing scrutiny, USA Fencing's board voted to amend its current policy that prioritized states with LGBTQ-friendly laws for host sites for competitions and a policy that may have prevented the playing of the national anthem at some events, at its June 7 meeting. The previous policies became one of the organization's biggest points of criticism after Turner's viral protest. USA Fencing has declined to explain the motivation behind the changes. "It would be inappropriate for staff to speculate on the personal motivations of USA Fencing's volunteer Board of Directors," a USA Fencing spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
USA Fencing transgender controversy escalates at DOGE hearing with social media regrets, calls for resignation
Just six weeks after women's fencer Stephanie Turner was disqualified and escorted out of a tournament for kneeling in protest of a trans opponent, she watched the man in charge of her punishment get grilled for it in a federal hearing. USA Fencing Chair Damien Lehfeldt was grilled by Republican lawmakers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee's "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" hearing on Wednesday. After the hearing, Turner told Fox News Digital that she would devote herself and her platform to pushing for resignations among key leadership figures in USA Fencing. "I'm going to be pushing for people to resign, to be honest. I'd like to see some people resign for the comments that they've made, especially publicly, ones that are harassing and meant to humiliate concerned women, mothers and daughters," Turner said. USA Fencing has provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing Turner's calls for leadership change. "We respect Ms. Turner's right to share her views. The volunteer members of USA Fencing's Board, elected by our membership, remain focused on serving athletes and meeting our obligations under the Ted Stevens Act and other governing-body rules. No leadership changes are under consideration," the statement read. Lehfeldt, who was subpoenaed and did not come voluntarily, made things harder on himself ahead of the hearing with a series of Instagram stories that were later blown up and used against him on the committee floor. In one post, which went viral before the hearing, he responded to a question that asked if he was "okay" with putting female fencers at a disadvantage with a simple, brash answer: "yeah." Then, during the hearing, Lehfeld admitted multiple times he regretted answering that way and admitted the question required a "more-nuanced" response. "He was under oath, but I was surprised that he admitted having written a fake response that he posted on his Instagram," Turner said. "So the simple admission that he knows what he's doing, and the intimidation tactics that he's been employing online, and he knows that they're wrong, and he hadn't redacted them until that point, it took a hearing, a subpoenaed hearing for him to do that, it was surprising." USA Fencing provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing its chair's social media posts on Wednesday. "Mr. Lehfeldt's pre-hearing social posts were made in a personal capacity. Before and during the hearing, he clarified that the comments do not reflect USA Fencing policy and expressed regret for any confusion they caused," the statement read. However, that was just the start of things for Lehfeldt. Throughout the afternoon, he faced his fair share of insults and personal comments from Republican committee members. Rep. Tim Burhcett, R-Tenn, asked Lehfeldt whether he would let his daughter fence against "a man." Lehfeldt suggested he would allow it while boasting about his organization's safety precautions. "As long as the competitor has met all the hormonal requirements and complies with the policy, I would be okay with it," Lehfeldt said. Later in the hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., suggested that Lehfeldt was "not" a man for his organization's gender eligibility policy. "Real men protect women, you're not one," Mace said. Mace even asked Lehfeldt to simply apologize to Turner for punishing the fencer, to which the chair declined and pointed out that Turner received a black card for her refusal. However, Turner was not looking for an apology. "I want more than an apology. I want a change in policy and I want people to start speaking the truth again. And an apology is just empty words without actions to me, so I don't know how far it would go for me," Turner said. The organization first enacted its current trans-inclusion policy in 2023. It allows transgender athletes to compete in the women's category at both the junior and senior level after completing one calendar year of testosterone-suppression treatment. Proof of compliant hormone therapy must be provided prior to competition, but the organization has taken even further steps to prioritize its trans competitors. USA Fencing announced in late April that it is preparing to change its gender-eligibility policy in the aftermath of the controversy with Turner. "In the event that USA Fencing is forced to change its current stance in accordance with oversight bodies or federal legislation, the new policy states athletes competing in USA Fencing-sanctioned tournaments must compete according to their biological sex," the announcement read. The proposed updated policy ensures that the women's category "will be open exclusively to athletes of the female sex." The men's category "will be open to all other athletes who are otherwise eligible for competition." Education Secretary Linda McMahon previously announced that the newly formed Title IX investigations team will be probing the incident involving Turner and trans competitor Redmond Sullivan. Meanwhile, Turner is on a hiatus from fencing in the aftermath of the controversy. "I don't see how I can spend the money to go to a tournament and have their be multiple officials that I know who are deeply against me," Turner said. "That's just not a fight that I want to be in the middle of right now, I'd rather take this fight elsewhere." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Woke pro-trans fencing chief left red faced in brutal dressing down at DOGE hearing
The controversial chairman of USA Fencing endured a brutal interrogation by lawmakers on Wednesday over his stance on transgender athletes, including why he once compared concerned parents to the Ku Klux Klan. Damien Lehfeldt first made headlines last month, when a female fencer named Stephanie Turner refused to fight a transgender rival during a competition. The incident shone a light on USA Fencing and on Lehfeldt, who previously wrote in a blog post that 'transgender women are women' and '(they) deserve the right to compete with the gender they identify with.' Since returning to office, however, Donald Trump has signed an executive order entitled 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports'. On Wednesday, both Turner and Lehfeldt appeared at a hearing involving a Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE). The hearing was shown a photo, apparently posted on social media by Lehfeldt, in which he made a profane two-finger gesture at the camera with the caption 'Game day'. Lehfeldt was grilled by lawmakers including chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, with his governing body accused of 'ignoring science' and putting 'politics ahead of women and the law.' Damien Lehfeldt, Chairman of @USAFencing, has a long, ugly record of smearing parents who dare to oppose men in their daughters' sports. He brought lame excuses. I brought receipts. — Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) May 7, 2025 Greene pressed him on why USA Fencing's 'site selection policy' for tournaments takes into account an area's policies on abortion and LGBT rights. 'We try to have tournaments in sites that are safe for all of our members. Period,' he said. But Lehfeldt refused to answer whether he would 'want (his) daughter to change in front of biological men in locker rooms? Yes or no.' The chairman responded to Greene: 'My daughter isn't really something that should be part of this hearing, respectfully.' Greene later posted a clip of the incident on social media and wrote: 'He couldn't say 'NO.' That tells you EVERYTHING. These people have lost all common sense.' During another excruciating exchange, Lehfeldt was pressed on previous comments he made about opponents to transgender athletes competing in women's sports. 'Do you think that parents who don't want their daughters competing against men in women's sports are "whiney",' Republican Congressman Brandon Gill asked him. After Lehfeldt said, 'No, sir,' Gill responded: 'Why did you write that on social media? I have a picture here where you posted that.' The congressman held up a screenshot. 'You were allegedly responding to a parent who didn't want their daughter being beaten up by men in sports competitions. (You wrote) "I'm not going to pull her from the sport and write and whiney email announcing my departure."' In his alleged reply, he ripped into a concerned 'Dorothy' and called her a 'cowardly Lion' Lehfeldt admitted his comments were 'inappropriate' but Gill then pressed him on another social media comment when he called opponents 'cowardly'. 'I regret it sir, I deleted it shortly after posting it and I certainly don't feel that way anymore.' As the chairman attempted to explain his position, Gill interrupted and asked: 'Do you think parents who don't want their daughters competing against men in sports should be compared to the Ku Klux Klan?' Lehfeldt responded, 'No. Absolutely not', only for Gill to dig up another 'receipt'. 'I'd like to read what you wrote and posted on social media, responding allegedly to a lady who had these concerns,' he said before quoting Lehfedlt. 'The only wizard that's going to dig you out of the myopic hole you've put yourself and your family in is one of the "grand wizard" variety.' Grand Wizard is a title traditionally given to a leader of the Klan, a white supremacist organization dating back the era of Reconstruction. '(It's) inappropriate, sir,' Lehfeldt admitted. 'I acknowledge that I said it and I will commit to never making a message like that again.' The chairman insisted the email he received was real but admitted he did not send the replies he posted to social media. Turner, meanwhile, claimed she was left feeling 'isolated and strangled' by USA Fencing, having spent '7,000 hours training and over $100,000' on her fencing career. Lehfeldt said the organization would comply with law changes regarding transgender athletes in women's sports. I asked if USA Fencing's Chair Damien Lehfeldt would want his daughter changing in front of a man. He couldn't say 'NO.' That tells you EVERYTHING. These people have lost all common sense. — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 7, 2025 'Gender participation in sports is a complex topic,' he said, adding that 'considerations of safety and fairness are paramount.' But in a statement to Outkick, USA Fencing suggested its transgender policy is out of its hands: 'USA Fencing remains dedicated to maintaining a fair, respectful environment where every athlete can participate. 'Our current transgender and non-binary eligibility policy, adopted in 2023, reflects guidance from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).' The statement continued: 'Because the Ted Stevens Act bars us from adopting participation requirements more stringent than those of our international federation (FIE), we must mirror that framework. Should Congress amend the Act, or the IOC/FIE change their standards, USA Fencing will adjust accordingly.'
