USA Fencing Officials sues the board after the trans athlete controversy
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Exclusive: Two US Fencing Board members have sued six other members and are arguing for the chairman. Damien Lehfeldt During a hearing of the Government Efficiency Bureau (DOGE) Subcommittee on May 7, he made a false statement to Congress regarding transgender athletes.
Litigation attempting to remove Lehfeldt American Fencing The chairman was filed on behalf of USA Fencing by two plaintiff members.
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Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) (L) and Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) (R) spoke about the suspect Spreased Damien Lehfeldt, director of the US Fencing Committee, on Isstagram Instagram, at the USH Play: Uprair Play Hearing. DC (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Plaintiffs Andrei Geba and Abdel Salem have long been linked to sports and organizations, respectively.
Geva is a former US national coach who led the US Women’s Epe team at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, and was elected to the board in 2024. Abdel competed for Egypt at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Now they are taking the organisation to court after Lefheldt misanimally announced Geva’s resignation from the board of directors at a June 7 meeting and misanimally announced several allegations, including the May 7 Doge Hearing.
The May hearing was called in response to a virus incident in which female swordsman Stephanie Turner kneeled to protest his transgender enemy and was subsequently punished by USA fencing. Lefheldt was the only person to testify on behalf of the organization.
The lawsuit alleges that Lehfeldt made a “falsely misleading claim” at the hearing, risking the organization being classified as a national governing body (NGB).
“Accused Lefeld’s unhelpful attitude in the malicious and dishonest and misleading statement at the May 7th (2025) Congressional hearing prompted the USFA to be exempt from NGB.
“His lies alienate thousands of members of the fencing community who provided more than 90% of USFA’s revenue.”
Geba claims he also tried to speak at the hearing, but he contends that he faced a “threat” aimed at “stopping” him. Geva finally submitted a letter to Sen. Ted Cruz of R-Texas on May 2, expressing his “opinions on the benefits of biological men over women in fencing.” Cruz’s office recently launched an investigation into US fencing over transgender eligibility policies following the Turner incident.
The letter was then referenced in Doge Hearing by Subcommittee Chair Marjorie Taylor-Greene.
“‘Trans female swordsmen are in a critical competition for women,” he wrote,” Green said at the hearing.
The lawsuit alleges that Geva was messaged by fellow board members to condemn his honest personal opinions, and that two board members called for a “special board aimed at removing or disciplining plaintiff Geva.”
USA Fencing has admitted the lawsuit in a statement from Fox News Digital.
“USA Fencing proudly serves our athletes, coaches, referees, clubs and others with absolute transparency and integrity. This derivative lawsuit misrepresents our organization and vehemently defends the organization in court.
“As the lawsuit is ongoing, we cannot discuss the details. Our focus remains unwavering. We will advance fencing nationwide, support all our members’ success, and support the value of the Olympic and Paralympic movement.”
The organization was under immeasurable public scrutiny after footage of Turner’s protest was released on April 2nd.
Lefheldt’s testimony at the May 7th hearing only strengthened criticism.
Summoned and not coming voluntarily, Lehfeldt raised the controversy ahead of the hearing with a series of Instagram stories that were later blown up and used against him on the floor of the committee. In one post that went viral before the hearing, he answered a question asking if he was “alright” for putting a female swordsman at a disadvantage with a simple and rude answer: “Yes.”
Later, during the hearing, Lefeld regretted answering such multiple times, and admitted that the question needed a “more subtle” answer.
At one point during the hearing, Lefheldt confessed to fake an email from the fictional fencing mother “Dorothy”, who opposed him and called out members with similar views about Ku Klux Klan’s “Dorothy” and “Grand Wizard.”
“It was a poor attempt at humor,” Liefeld said.
R-Tenn. Sen. Tim Burhcett of the group asked Lehfeldt if his daughter would blow a fence against the “man.” Lehfeldt suggested that he allow it, boasting about his organization’s safety precautions.
“As long as our competitors meet all the hormonal requirements and comply with our policies, I’ll be fine,” Liefeld said.
Later in the hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace (Rs.C.) suggested that Lefeld was not the man in his organization’s gender eligibility policy.
“A real man protects women, you’re not alone,” Mace said.
Mace even asked Liefeld to simply apologize to Turner for punishing the fencer.
Turner told Fox News Digital after Doge that he was trying to change the leadership of USA Fencing after leaving the sport.
“To be honest, I am going to push people to resign, especially those resigning from public comments.
Currently, two members of the board have joined the cause.
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In continued scrutiny, the US Fencing board voted to amend its current policy. Prioritized state It features LGBTQ-friendly laws on host sites for competition and policies that may have prevented the performance of the national anthem at several events at the June 7th meeting.
Previous policies have become one of the organisation’s biggest criticism points after Turner’s viral protests.
US Fencing refuses to explain the motivation behind the change.
“It’s inappropriate for staff to speculate about the personal motivations of the USA Fencing volunteer board,” a USA Fencing spokesman told Fox News Digital.
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