Latest news with #Slusser
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
DOJ assistant AG responds to new allegations in SJSU transgender volleyball controversy
EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has spoken out in response to recent developments related to San Jose State University's transgender volleyball player from last fall. Dhillon responded to Fox News Digital's July 31 report with new allegations by former SJSU volleyball player Brooke Slusser related to a misconduct investigation into her former trans teammate, Blaire Fleming. Fleming was accused of conspiring with an opposing player to have Slusser spiked in the face during a match in October. "The Department of Justice has restored fairness to women's sports and will continue to go after bad actors who endanger young women with woke gender ideology. We will leverage every legal resource available to enforce Title IX and protect women's basic right to compete in sports without fear of retribution from men," Dhillon said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. In November, a Mountain West Conference investigation into the initial allegations against Fleming concluded without finding "sufficient evidence" just three days after the first emails to witnesses to set up interviews were sent, according to public records obtained by Fox News Digital. The investigation was carried out by the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher (WFG). WFG was also hired by the Mountain West to defend the conference against a lawsuit by Slusser, which included the very same allegations against Fleming that the law firm cleared. Public records obtained by Fox News Digital show WFG attorney Tim Heaphy led the investigation into Fleming's alleged misconduct. Heaphy previously served as the chief investigative counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives select committee to investigate the January 6 capitol protests. Slusser told Fox News Digital she had a conversation with a teammate who was interviewed as part of the conference's investigation into Fleming's alleged plan. "Based on what I was told, exactly what one of my teammates had seen go on that night — about talking about the scouting report and leaving the net open — was told to those lawyers. So, that should have been sufficient evidence [of the alleged plan by Fleming]," Slusser said. "People are telling you this happened, and it's not second-hand information. She sat there and heard the conversation between Blaire and [former Colorado State volleyball player] Malaya [Jones]. So, to me, just from what I know without even having to dig deep into this investigation, there is sufficient evidence, and they were told sufficient evidence." Fox News Digital cannot independently verify that Slusser's teammate corroborated the allegations against Fleming when speaking to investigators. None of WFG's attorneys have been accused of violating any applicable rules of professional conduct. Now, Dhillon joins other GOP officials speaking out in response to the recent report. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, shared the report with the caption, "This is disgraceful, and this young woman should have never been forced to compete with a man in the first place." Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., shared the report on X and called for the NCAA and the Mountain West to conduct a new investigation. "It's a DISGRACE that we have universities who actively put female athletes in harm's way. NCAA and Mountain West need to hold a FULL INVESTIGATION IMMEDIATELY. Appreciate Brooke Slusser speaking out and fighting for female athletes. Keep it up!" Tuberville wrote. A White House spokesperson provided a statement to Fox News Digital last week addressing the report as well. "Women deserve to play sports without fear of being violated and harassed by biological men. President Trump is returning integrity to women's sports by ending the deranged left's policies that demean and endanger women," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. In a lawsuit signed by 10 other current or former women's college volleyball players against the Mountain West and representatives of SJSU, Slusser alleged Fleming and other teammates sneaked out of a team hotel the night before an Oct. 3 match against Colorado State and met with an opposing player. The lawsuit alleged a teammate who sneaked out with Fleming later told players and coaches of an alleged plan by Fleming, in a conspiracy with the Colorado State player, to have Slusser spiked in the face during a match. The lawsuit and complaint alleged the players who sneaked out told other players and coaches they saw Fleming also hand over an SJSU scouting report with an agreement to throw the match in Colorado State's favor. Slusser said after she joined Riley Gaines' lawsuit against the NCAA in September, her interactions with trans athletes quickly turned hostile, citing her experience with Fleming. "After I joined the lawsuit, Blaire did not like me whatsoever. There was a time where Blaire said, 'I never want to speak to you again.' And I said, 'OK, that's fine,'" Slusser said. "I just knew there was hatred toward me from Blaire." Fox News Digital interviewed San Jose State athletic director Jeff Konya to inquire about Slusser's claims and other details of the investigation. However, Konya stood up after about five minutes of related questions and walked away, saying, "I'm done." Fox News Digital played a video clip of Slusser reciting these allegations to Konya at Mountain West media days July 15. "I have no idea if she's telling the truth or not," Konya said of Slusser's claims. Konya would not confirm or deny whether any of the witnesses interviewed corroborated the allegations against Fleming. When asked if he was satisfied with how the university handled the controversy involving Fleming in 2024, Konya said, "I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances." The U.S. Department of Education opened a federal Title IX investigation into the situation involving Fleming and the university's handling of the trans athlete. The DOE recently reached agreements with other universities that allowed males to play on women's teams. On July 1, the DOE announced it had reached an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania to apologize to all female athletes that competed with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2021-22 season and to rescind all of Thomas' school records. Then, on Friday, the department announced a similar agreement with Wagner College in response to the school allowing transgender fencer Redmon Sullivan to compete on the women's fencing team. Education Secretary Linda McMahon previously told Fox News Digital her department will continue working to address the SJSU investigation. "Our investigation will continue," McMahon said. The DOJ has launched lawsuits against public officials in California and Maine for allowing males to compete in girls sports and refusing to come to an agreement with the Trump administration. Fox News Digital has reached out to SJSU, the Mountain West and WFG for a response to Dhillon's statement. When Fox News Digital previously asked the Mountain West if it would disclose any evidence from the investigation, particularly if any of the witnesses interviewed corroborated the allegations against Fleming, the conference declined. "With litigation ongoing, the Mountain West will have no further comment," a conference spokesperson said. San Jose State previously declined to respond to Slusser's claims. "Due to ongoing litigation and federal investigation, we are unable to respond to your inquiry," a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital has attempted to reach Fleming through social media for comment in response to Slusser's allegations.
Fox News
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
White House makes statement after Brooke Slusser comes forward with SJSU volleyball allegations
EXCLUSIVE: The White House provided an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital after former San Jose State volleyball player Brooke Slusser came forward with allegations related to her final college volleyball season in 2024 — a season that involved a transgender teammate being investigated for allegedly conspiring to have Slusser harmed during a game. "Women deserve to play sports without fear of being violated and harassed by biological men. President Trump is returning integrity to women's sports by ending the deranged left's policies that demean and endanger women," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. The statement came after an inquiry into a response to Fox News Digital's reporting on a Mountain West Conference investigation into allegations that former SJSU trans athlete Blaire Fleming conspired with a Colorado State player to have Slusser spiked in the face during an Oct. 3 match. President Donald Trump's Department of Education opened a federal Title IX investigation into San Jose State in February over the situation involving Fleming and the university's handling of the trans athlete. Slusser issued a response to the White House statement. "I love the steps the White House has taken to eliminate men in women's sports, but as of now, there is so much change that still needs to be made. We have seen baby steps in the right direction, but we still have girls out there having to deal with men on their teams and in their locker rooms," Slusser said. "I feel this needs to be a massive priority so we can stop this madness sooner rather than later. Girls are still suffering every day until we can put a complete stop to these people's false reality and put them where they belong, which is with men's sports." Slusser previously alleged in a lawsuit, signed by 10 other current or former women's college volleyball players against the Mountain West and representatives of SJSU, that Fleming and other teammates snuck out of the team hotel the night before an Oct. 3 game against Colorado State and met with an opposing player. The lawsuit alleged a teammate who snuck out with Fleming later told players and coaches of an alleged plan by Fleming, in a conspiracy with the Colorado State player, to have Slusser spiked in the face during a match. The lawsuit and complaint alleged the players who snuck out told other players and coaches they saw Fleming also hand over an SJSU scouting report with an agreement to throw the match in Colorado State's favor. In November, the Mountain West Conference launched an investigation into the allegations but concluded "sufficient evidence" could not be found. Slusser now claims she had a conversation with a teammate who was interviewed as part of the conference's investigation into Fleming's alleged plan. Fox News Digital is not disclosing the identity of the teammate. "Based on what I was told, exactly what one of my teammates had seen go on that night — about talking about the scouting report and leaving the net open — was told to those lawyers. So, that should have been sufficient evidence [of the alleged plan by Fleming]," Slusser told Fox News Digital, adding she wants to see the investigation reopened. "People are telling you this happened, and it's not second-hand information. She sat there and heard the conversation between Blaire and [former Colorado State volleyball player] Malaya [Jones]. So, to me, just from what I know without even having to dig deep into this investigation, there is sufficient evidence, and they were told sufficient evidence." Fox News Digital cannot independently verify that Slusser's teammate corroborated the allegations against Fleming when speaking to investigators. Slusser has alleged university officials hid knowledge of Fleming's birth sex from her while allegedly frequently pairing the two in the same bedroom on overnight trips. "I'm openly changing in front of this person, thinking that it's a woman, and … I could have had the chance to take myself out of that situation and at least go to a different room and request to be switched to another room and didn't," she said. "So, I got that opportunity of my choice to be taken away from me." Slusser said after she joined Riley Gaines' lawsuit against the NCAA in September, citing her experience with Fleming, interactions with trans athletes quickly turned hostile. "After I joined the lawsuit, Blaire did not like me whatsoever. There was a time where Blaire said, 'I never want to speak to you again.' And I said, 'OK, that's fine,'" Slusser said. "I just knew there was hatred toward me from Blaire." Fox News Digital interviewed San Jose State athletic director Jeff Konya to inquire about Slusser's claims and other details of the investigation. However, Konya stood up after just around five minutes of related questions and walked away, saying "I'm done." Fox News Digital played a video clip of Slusser reciting these allegations to Konya at Mountain West media days July 15. "I have no idea if she's telling the truth or not," Konya said of Slusser's claims. Konya could not confirm or deny whether any of the witnesses interviewed corroborated the allegations against Fleming. When asked if he was satisfied with how the university handled the controversy involving Fleming in 2024, Konya said, "I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances." Slusser made an attempt to return to play one season of beach volleyball in the NCAA, which she had a year of eligibility for, entering the transfer portal this past spring around the time of her graduation from SJSU. However, after communicating with several Division I coaches about potential offers, she pulled herself out of the transfer portal and abandoned the idea. Slusser cited concern about her well-being and potential retaliation for her beliefs and public profile, citing her experience with SJSU, Fleming and the controversial investigation into the trans athlete's alleged plan to harm her. "I could have gotten there and could have had a lot of retaliation from just students or staff or the athletes even, and I didn't know if that was something I could handle going through again," Slusser said, adding she had no faith "at all" she would be protected in the event of retaliation. "I was never shown that at an institution I thought I could trust … so I could really trust no one. … There was a lot of fears going through that transfer process." Education Secretary Linda McMahon previously told Fox News Digital that the Trump Education Department will continue working to address the SJSU investigation. "Our investigation will continue," McMahon said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Mountain West, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, San Jose State University, Kress, Colorado State University and Jones' current school, Southern Methodist University (SMU), for a response to all reported findings and the allegations by the Slusser family and Batie-Smoose. Jones transferred to SMU after the end of last season. When asked if Mountain West would disclose any evidence from the investigation, particularly if any of the witnesses interviewed corroborated the allegations against Fleming, the conference declined. "With litigation ongoing, the Mountain West will have no further comment," a conference spokesperson said. San Jose State has declined to respond to Slusser's claims as well. "Due to ongoing litigation and federal investigation, we are unable to respond to your inquiry," a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital has attempted to reach Fleming via social media for comment.
CBS News
04-05-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Pittsburgh Marathon honors longtime runner who died while kayaking in Tennessee
The Pittsburgh Marathon is honoring a longtime runner who died while kayaking before he could run this weekend. Don Slusser ran in every single Pittsburgh Marathon since it began in 1985, and was a leading member of a group of eight men called the "sole survivors," who are the only ones who have done the same. Saturday's Pittsburgh Marathon Hall of Fame ceremony was meant to celebrate longtime runners like Tom Abbott. "I really am humbled and honored," Abbott said as he took the stage." And I thank you, and especially like to thank a friend of mine of over 50 years. He passed away about a month ago, Donnie Slusser." Slusser, 73, died while kayaking in Tennessee. He helped to organize the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. For years, he was the one helping to make sure things ran smoothly, even if that was just handing out bags to inductees. He helped to organize the committee that voted on new inductees and collected stats on runners for them to review. He's also the one who, months ago, informed inductees like Abbott that they'd made the Hall of Fame. They first raced each other in high school. "I know he's up there, and he's organizing the pearly gates marathon at this minute," Abbott said. "I don't want an entry very soon, but save one." Another "sole survivor," Tim Hewitt, also inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday, said Slusser embodied running in Pittsburgh. "It's sad; you can't be here and not think [Slusser] should be here," Hewitt said. "I'd look at him and say, 'How can he even move,' and then I'd be worried he was going to pass me because he was that determined." Like Hewitt and Abbott are now, Slusser was also a Hall of Famer. He was part of the inaugural class in 2009, a product of his achievements during races and the lifetime more than 200,000 miles he had run. "If you had a bad race, he'd say, 'Come on, come up next week, there's another race,'" Abbott said. Marathon Course Director Melissa Cade, who also helps organize the Hall of Fame ceremony, said Slusser ran with grit, heart, and humility. "He gave advice without ego. He gave support without any condition, and kindness without hesitation," Cade said. She grew emotional as she was close to wrapping up a speech she delivered about Slusser at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "In a world moving too fast, Don slowed things down by putting one foot in front of the other over and over again for the right reasons," Cade said. "Pittsburgh has lost a true original, but Don Slusser's legacy will echo on every trail, track, and quiet morning sidewalk." A story she said that was not just written in race times, but the lives he touched. "We're going to run with empty hearts and for me this [race] will be in his honor," Hewitt said. On Sunday, five runners will participate in a relay, passing along Slusser's final printed bib and taking it across the finish line one more time. During the ceremony, Louis Kusher was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was part of the group that brought the race back to the city after a six-year absence. He detailed the struggles they faced, saying they lacked credibility. "For us, it was a dream," Kushner said. "Pittsburgh needed to have a marathon. You couldn't be a big league city without a marathon, so we persevered." Kushner can now admit they managed that first marathon on "a wing and a prayer." They were ready to call 2,000 runners a success. Instead, they had thousands more and were forced to cut off registration at 10,000, he said.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas passes anti-trans bill restricts bathrooms use, other private spaces
TEXAS (KTAL/KMSS) — Today, the Texas Senate passed the 'Women's Privacy Act,' ensuring women are safe in their bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers. However, it explicitly prohibits trans people from sharing those spaces. Mary Elizabeth Castle, Director of Government Relations for Texas Values, said, 'The vote today in the Senate was a landmark vote for protecting women and girls in our state. No woman should have to be forced to share a vulnerable private space with a man and be deprived of her dignity. Private spaces are separated based on sex for a reason, and our state should keep it that way.' According to Texas Values' news release, Brooke Slusser, a San Jose State women's volleyball player, was a 'key witness' who was 'forced' to share a locker room and an apartment with her transgender roommate without her knowledge. Texas bill could charge transgender people with 'gender identity fraud', if passed During her testimony in favor of SB 240, Slusser claimed that she was not aware that her teammate was transgender. However, according to a New York Times interview, the teammate, Blare Flemings, did not publicly identify as trans at the time. Flemings reported she became suicidal after becoming the face of a national anti-transgender movement. Meanwhile, Slusser appeared on national television against trans athletes. 'We were lied to and deceived. I was traumatized from this situation. I am now doing online school and not attending SJSU anymore,' said Slusser. Slusser said she could have 'saved' herself from the situation. The Texas athlete concluded her statement, 'This is something that could have saved so many other young student athletes and not have them go through what I went through and be traumatized, and have the sport ruined because a man is in a woman's safe space.' SB 240 underscores 'a person entering a private space designated for the biological sex opposite to the person's biological sex.' Individuals who violate the bill may be fined $5,000 for the first offense and $25,000 for the second offense. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Local running legend found dead in lake in Tennessee
A local Hall of Fame marathon runner died on a kayaking trip. Don Slusser, 73, died Thursday night while kayaking on Percy Priest Lake in Tennessee, NBC affiliate WSMV reports. His body was found by search teams near the campground where he was staying with his wife Friday morning. GCX Racing Pittsburgh shared a photo of Slusser on Facebook from the 2024 Mad Dash 10 Miler, calling him an amazing runner, race director and community organizer. Slusser was the Indiana University of Pennsylvania's All-American Marathon Runner and was inducted into the IUP Hall of Fame in 1996. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
