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Virginia school district slapped with complaint alleging new claims in viral trans locker room fight

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Virginia school district slapped with complaint alleging new claims in viral trans locker room fight

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The legal team representing two boys suspended for questioning a transgender classmate’s access to the boys’ locker room have now filed an amended federal complaint alleging fresh factual claims and a new conspiracy charge, as they escalate their federal case against the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in Virginia.

America First Legal and the Founding Freedoms Law Center, who are representing the boys and their families, added new factual allegations to their previously submitted federal complaint on Wednesday, alleging LCPS engaged in a conspiracy to retaliate against the boys. It also claimed there were alleged inconsistencies in the district’s handling of its Title IX investigation that found the boys guilty of sexual harassment and suspended them for 10 days.   

“Loudoun County Public Schools’ Title IX investigation into our clients inexplicably relied on non-credible evidence, ignored credible witness testimony, failed to interview key
witnesses, deleted potentially exonerating video evidence, and failed to disclose LCPS’s own admission that the allegations against our clients did not constitute sexual harassment,” said Ian Prior, Senior Counsel at America First Legal. 

VIRGINIA PARENTS CRUSH FUNDRAISING GOAL FOR TRANS LOCKER ROOM FIGHT AFTER JUDGE ORDERED MASSIVE BOND 

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Video from a locker room in Stone Bridge High School where a trans male was in a male bathroom. (Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office)

“Making matters worse, and as we set forth in the amended complaint, it appears that the school board was passing along confidential information to a political action committee for the purpose of further retaliating against our clients and their families. If proven true at trial, and we intend to do exactly that, this entire affair is a travesty of justice, a waste of taxpayer money to defend, and everything that is wrong with the Loudoun County School Board and its misplaced priorities.”

Earlier this year, LCPS, located in Northern Virginia, launched a Title IX sexual harassment investigation into two high-school-aged boys after they were videotaped by a biological female who identified as transgender inside the boys’ locker room. The video caught them outwardly complaining to each other about the fact that there was a biological girl who identified as a boy using their facilities.

Before taking the case to federal court, the boys and their parents sought to appeal LCPS’s Title IX sexual harassment finding to keep the boys from being suspended or marked as sexual harassers on their permanent record. However, their appeal was ultimately denied by the district, leading the families to pursue action in federal court.

On Wednesday, the families turned up the heat with fresh allegations not laid out in their original complaint, including that the district conspired with a local political action committee, Loudoun for All, for the purpose of retaliating against the boys and their families. 

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The amended complaint also points to inconsistencies in the district’s Title IX investigation, such as relying on non-credible evidence, ignoring credible evidence and witness testimony, misrepresenting evidence, failing to interview key witnesses, and failing to disclose potentially exonerating evidence. 

PRESSURE MOUNTS ON VIRGINIA DEMS TO CLEARLY STATE VIEW ON TRANS BATHROOMS AFTER BOMBSHELL EMAILS

Fox News Digital interviewed two Virginia parents whose kids have been accused of sexual harassment for complaining about a biological girl who identifies as a boy using their locker room. (Fox News/istock)

The fresh complaint claims that days after the federal court issued a preliminary injunction halting LCPS from suspending the boys or making Title IX findings part of their student record, the district reached out to Loudoun For All and corroborated with them in a press release and other messaging materials that included “a number of false and defamatory allegations” used to generate a public narrative against the boys and their families. The press releases and other materials, such as a timeline of the case’s events, were listed on the political action committee’s website, Facebook page, Reddit account and Bluesky account, and allegedly also contained privileged, confidential information pertaining to the case cited in a subsequent local media report titled, “Locker Room Lawsuit Against LCPS Involves Misinformation, Loudoun4All Says.” 

The press release Loudoun For All put out accused the boys’ parents of “orchestrat[ing] a coordinated campaign of disinformation, knowingly misrepresenting facts to fuel political outrage,” and argued that they were trying to “inflame voters ahead of an election.”

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It also claimed that 24 witnesses corroborated that the boys’ called the female student, who identifies as transgender, a “girl,” “it,” “girl-boy,” and told them “get out” while inside the boy’s locker room. But, according to the boys’ legal counsel, witnesses never corroborated these claims and the female student’s accusations of when the harassment took place appeared to be inconsistent.

Loudoun For All did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

WOMAN DISROBES AT CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD MEETING IN PROTEST OF LOCKER ROOM POLICIES  

Meanwhile, the complaint also alleges that LCPS failed to disclose that a video cited as evidence in the district’s Title IX finding against the boys included the female student saying “I got it” while laughing. It adds that the district allegedly deleted other video the female student took of boys using or coming out of the bathroom.

The amended complaint notes that despite inconsistencies in the female student’s story at times, they were credited with “superior credibility” by Title IX investigators in the district. Furthermore, it claims that a threat assessment of the male students found no threat and the district had previously concluded that a situation similar to the one at hand resulted in the district finding no cause for a sexual harassment under federal law.   

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LCPS declined to comment on the amended complaint, telling Fox News Digital that it is the district’s practice not to comment on pending legal matters.

A transgender flag waves at an undisclosed location on an undisclosed date (left). A judge uses his gavel (right). (Getty Images/iStock)

Shortly after LCPS denied the boys’ Title IX appeal, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found LCPS violated Title IX by discriminating against the boys on the basis of sex. Specifically, the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights determined LCPS “failed to meaningfully investigate complaints of sexual harassment by two male students concerning the presence of a member of the opposite sex in male-only intimate spaces yet thoroughly investigated the female student’s sexual harassment complaint about the boys.”

Both of the boy’s parents told Fox News Digital in August that their sons attempted to voice discomfort to school officials about the female classmate using their locker room, but that their complaints fell on deaf ears.   

ASHBURN, VA – AUGUST 11: Supporters of Policy 8040 celebrate with signs as the transgender protection measures were voted into the school system’s policies during a school board meeting at the Loudoun County Public Schools Administration Building on August 11, 2021 in Ashburn, Va.  (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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The Trump administration indicated LCPS would lose federal funding if they did not rescind its suspensions and sexual harassment findings against the two boys, review its initial findings, and investigate the Title IX complaint the boys filed against the female student for videotaping them in the locker room, which the boys’ attorneys say was ignored by the district.

“The amended complaint we filed today unveils Loudoun County Public Schools’ sham targeting of these boys while it ignored numerous, credible threats to their privacy and safety,” said Victoria Cobb, President of the Founding Freedoms Law Center. “As alleged, a female student repeatedly filmed male students, including while using the bathroom, yet Loudoun did nothing. Instead, Loudoun appears to have conspired with an outside political organization to continue its attacks against these boys and their parents.”

The Trump administration has also included LCPS among a list of five Northern Virginia school districts in violation of Title IX due to their locker room and bathroom policies. As a result of that determination, the districts’ federal funding will now be “done by reimbursement only” and the Trump administration commenced proceedings to potentially terminate their funding altogether, the Education Department indicated over the summer. 

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How President Trump’s Image Permeates the White House and Beyond

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How President Trump’s Image Permeates the White House and Beyond

Since moving back in, President Trump has significantly altered the “People’s House.” East Wing: gone. Oval Office: maximalized. Rose Garden: Mar-a-lago-ified. And the art? Lots of Trump.

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Over the last year, The New York Times has captured at least nine paintings, posters, memes, and even a mugshot outside the Oval Office, that Mr. Trump added throughout the historic space.

Many of the selections are gifts from his supporters that highlight his political stature and reinforce the idea that Mr. Trump is invincible.

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All presidents or first ladies add to and shuffle the art in the White House.

Barack Obama brought in abstract paintings.

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Family Dining Room, 2015. Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

George W. Bush decorated with images from his Texas roots.

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Oval Office, 2007. Doug Mills/The New York Times

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In Mr. Trump’s first term, Melania Trump added a sculpture by Isamu Noguchi to the Rose Garden.

Rose Garden, 2020. Pool photo by Chris Kleponis

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But never before has a sitting president displayed so much of his own image on the White House walls.

There is an “assertion of symbolic power that he wants to be on view essentially everywhere in that space,” said Cara Finnegan, a communication professor at the University of Illinois and author of “Photographic Presidents: Making History from Daguerreotype to Digital.”

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Even outside his current residence, Mr. Trump’s visage has proliferated in unexpected places — on banners hanging from government buildings, on National Parks passes and on social media, where he has been likened to a king. There has also been talk of a U.S. Treasury-minted coin with Mr. Trump on both sides.

Break with tradition

In recent decades, each president’s official White House portrait has been unveiled in a ceremony hosted by his successor.

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The Carters hosted the Fords:

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East Room, 1978. Associated Press

The Clintons hosted the Bushes:

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East Room, 1995. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

And the Bushes hosted the Clintons:

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East Room, 2004. Tim Sloan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The mood has often been lighthearted, with political party tensions melting away.

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“I am pleased that my portrait brings an interesting symmetry to the White House collection,” George W. Bush joked in a ceremony hosted by the Obamas. “It now starts and ends with a George W.”

In a break with tradition, Mr. Trump did not schedule a ceremony for the unveiling of the Obamas’ portraits during his first term. Joe Biden later did, in a ceremony with a “Welcome Home!” vibe.

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Typically, the latest available presidential portrait — often a realistic oil painting — hangs in the main entrance hall, where heads of state are welcomed.

The Obama portrait was in the spot until April …

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Cross Hall in the Executive Residence, 2024. Tom Brenner for The New York Times

… when Mr. Trump replaced it with this painting by Marc Lipp, a Florida pop artist, last April.

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Cross Hall in the Executive Residence, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

It depicts a striking moment in 2024 when a bloodied Mr. Trump pumped his fist in defiance, soon after being shot at by a would-be assassin during a campaign event.

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Presidential historians have criticized the departure from convention.

Though Mr. Trump had a portrait commissioned for the Smithsonian’s American Presidents collection after his first term, none was confirmed for the permanent White House collection, and the White House said that this is where that portrait would have hung.

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It is not totally unprecedented for a president to hang a painting of himself in the White House during his term. Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Grover Cleveland all did, according to the White House Historical Association. But more often than not, paintings of presidents and first ladies are hung after they have left office, historians said.

Flags, fists and faith from fans

In what has become something of a muse for many of the president’s artistic supporters, there are at least three other depictions of the fist-pumping scene in the White House.

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The image “is in people’s garages when I walk around my neighborhood,” said Leslie Hahner, a Texas resident and communication professor at Baylor University, who studies visual political culture. “People love that image.”

Behind the Oval Office, one is in a small room that houses Trump merchandise:

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Oval Office study, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Another was seen in the West Wing next to a “Still Life with Fruit” painting from 1850:

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West Wing, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

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A statue form was spotted in the Oval Office:

Oval Office, 2025. Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

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The sculptor, Stan Watts, told a Utah TV station last year that he believes the president was saved by God that day. Many of Mr. Trump’s Christian supporters have echoed that sentiment.

At least two works by a self-described “Christian worship artist,” Vanessa Horabuena, are among Mr. Trump’s White House collection. He has called Ms. Horabuena, who often paints live in front of an audience, “one of the greatest artists anywhere in the world.”

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In 2022, she painted a portrait of Mr. Trump at a booth at the Conservative Political Action Conference. When he saw it, he asked to meet her, Ms. Horabuena’s representative said. She most recently painted Mr. Trump live at a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-A-Lago.

One of her portraits was spotted in the Cabinet room in January.

It shows Mr. Trump, his eyes closed, in front of a mountain with a small cross on the top:

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Cabinet Room, 2026. Doug Mills/The New York Times

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Ms. Horabuena hand-delivered it to the White House, according to her website.

Her other painting shows the president walking through a phalanx of flags. It was seen hanging prominently in a hallway leading to the Cabinet Room and the Oval Office:

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West Wing, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

“He’s positioned as this embattled warrior in a lot of these images,” Dr. Hahner said.

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Historical figures Mr. Trump adulates are co-stars in some of the art he has chosen.

In an image created by the team of White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, Mr. Trump is pictured with William McKinley and Henry Clay, who, like the president, championed the use of tariffs:

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West Wing, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Here, Mr. Trump is with two other Republican presidents, Abraham Lincoln (to whom he has compared himself) and Ronald Reagan (whom he is a fan of):

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West Wing, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Titled “Great American Patriots,” the piece was painted by Dick Bobnick, an illustrator and Trump supporter from Minnesota. He said he mailed several prints to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but he had no idea his work was on the White House walls until a USA Today reporter called him about it.

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“I could hardly believe it,” said Mr. Bobnick. (He said the print is now his best-seller.)

If not in portraits, Mr. Trump’s image is reflected on mirrors that he has added to the White House complex.

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Two are in the Oval Office …

Oval Office, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

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… making his image visible from the Resolute Desk.

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Oval Office, 2025. Doug Mills/The New York Times

The mirrors, the portraits and the gilding mimic the look of his properties, like Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate.

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Mar-a-Lago, 2016. Eric Thayer for The New York Times

“Trump is obsessed with his image,” Dr. Hahner said. “And he is so controlling of his image.”

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Trump everywhere, all the time

One portrait seen in the White House has become a communication tool between Mr. Trump and his supporters in the real world.

This is his social media profile picture.

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Trump’s Truth Social account, 2025.

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It was seen last October hanging between former first ladies Laura Bush and Barbara Bush in the now-demolished East Wing:

Booksellers Hall in the now-demolished East Wing, 2025. Cheriss May for The New York Times

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The portrait was painted by Lena Ruseva, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, who goes by the name MAGALANGELO. Mr. Trump invited her to his Bedminster golf club in 2022, and she gave it to him as a birthday gift.

“Every time social media or the news quotes the president and I see my artwork alongside it, I feel proud and grateful,” she said.

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For a time, the same portrait hung next to Hillary Clinton, his political rival and a former first lady.

Booksellers Hall in the now-demolished East Wing, 2025. Alex Brandon/Associated Press

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Supporters at that time lauded the placement on social media:

This example of a positive feedback loop demonstrates how Mr. Trump has used social media to redefine the presidency and presidential communication. Ms. Ruseva’s portrait was used on social media, hung up in the real world, then photographed and put back on social media by supporters who praised the president.

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When Mr. Trump was elected to his first term in 2016, Dr. Hahner said that scholars referred to him as the first “meme president.”

Mr. Trump and his internet fans are used to a meme culture based on irony, and rehashing, repurposing and remixing existing images. The collection of White House artwork — much of it originating from his supporters — sits in an uncanny valley between realism and meme-ism, Dr. Hahner said.

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Like memes that multiply, Mr. Trump’s image has been reproduced in other ways, outside the White House.

Last month, a huge banner with Mr. Trump’s face was draped outside the Justice Department headquarters …

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Justice Department headquarters, 2026. Eric Lee for The New York Times

Last year, similar signage was strung over the Labor Department building …

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Labor Department building, 2025. Eric Lee for The New York Times

… and the Agriculture Department building (this one, alongside Lincoln).

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Agriculture Department building, 2025. Eric Lee for The New York Times

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At his request, Mr. Trump’s portrait was recently updated at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery:

National Portrait Gallery, 2026. Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

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Still, Mr. Trump wants more. The White House has suggested that the National Portrait Gallery add a separate section for Trump-related art.

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Trump sends official notification to Congress on strikes against Iran

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Trump sends official notification to Congress on strikes against Iran

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President Donald Trump on Monday sent an official notification to Congress about the U.S. strikes against Iran, in which he attempted to justify the military action in the now expanding conflict in the Middle East.

In a letter obtained by FOX News, Trump told Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that “no U.S. ground forces were used in these strikes” and that the mission “was planned and executed in a manner designed to minimize civilian casualties, deter future attacks, and neutralize Iran’s malign activities.”

This comes after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran on Saturday as part of Operation Epic Fury, triggering a response from Tehran and a wider conflict in the region. The strikes killed the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other military leaders.

President Donald Trump on Monday sent an official notification to Congress about the U.S. strikes against Iran. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Trump wrote that it is not yet possible to know the full scope of military operations against Iran and that U.S. forces are prepared to take potential further action.

“Although the United States desires a quick and enduring peace, not possible at this time to know the full scope and duration of military operations that may be necessary,” Trump wrote. “As such, United States forces remain postured to take further action, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats and attacks upon the United States or its allies and partners, and ensure the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ceases being a threat to the United States, its allies, and the international community.”

“I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests,” he added. “I acted pursuant to my constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive to conduct United States foreign relations.”

A general view of Tehran with smoke visible in the distance after explosions were reported in the city, on March 2, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. (Contributor/Getty Images)

Trump said he was “providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution,” as some Republican and Democrat lawmakers attempt to restrain the president’s military action, which they affirm is unconstitutional without congressional approval.

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The president also accused Iran of being among the largest state sponsors of terrorism in the world and purported that the “Iranian regime continues to seek the means to possess and employ nuclear weapons,” even after the White House said in June that precision strikes at the time “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.

US SURGES FORCES TO MIDDLE EAST AS PENTAGON WARNS IRAN FIGHT ‘WILL TAKE SOME TIME’

A person holds an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iranian demonstrators protest against the U.S.-Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 28, 2026.  (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

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“As I previously communicated to the Congress, Iran remains one of the largest, if not the largest, state-sponsors of terrorism in the world,” Trump said in the letter on Monday. “Despite the success of Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER, the Iranian regime continues to seek the means to possess and employ nuclear weapons. Its array of ballistic, cruise, anti-ship, and other missiles pose a direct threat to and are attacking United States forces, commercial vessels, and civilians, as well as those of our allies and partners.”

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“Despite my Administration’s repeated efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to Iran’s malign behavior, the threat to the United States and its allies and partners became untenable,” he continued.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

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Trump admin warned lawmakers Israel was 'determined to act with or without us' before massive Iran strikes
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Rep. Kevin Kiley opts against challenging fellow Republican Tom McClintock

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Rep. Kevin Kiley opts against challenging fellow Republican Tom McClintock

Northern California Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), whose congressional district was carved up in the redistricting ballot measures approved by voters last year, announced Monday that he would not challenge fellow Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove. Instead, he plans to run in the Democratic-leaning district where he resides.

“It’s true that I was fully prepared to run in [McClintock’s district], having tested the waters and with polls showing a favorable outlook in a ‘safe’ district. But doing what’s easy and what’s right are often not the same,” Kiley posted on the social media site X. “And at the end of the day, as much as I love the communities in [that] District that I represent now – and as excited as I was about the new ones – seeking office in a district that doesn’t include my hometown didn’t feel right.”

Kiley, 41, currently represents a congressional district that spans Lake Tahoe to Sacramento. He did not respond to requests for comment.

But after California voters in November passed Proposition 50 — a ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional districts in an effort to counter Trump’s moves to increase the numbers of Republicans in Congress — Kiley’s district was sliced up into other districts.

As the filing deadline approaches, Kiley pondered his path forward in a decision that was compared by political insiders to the reality television show “The Bachelor.” Who would receive the final rose? McClintock’s new sprawling congressional district includes swaths of gold country, the Central Valley and Death Valley. The district Kiley opted to run in includes the city of Sacramento and the suburbs of Roseville and Rocklin in Placer County.

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Kiley was facing headwinds because of the Republican institutional support that lined up behind McClintock, 69, who has been in Congress since 2009 and served in the state Legislature for 26 years previously. President Trump, the California Republican Party and the Club for Growth’s political action committee are among the people and groups who have endorsed McClintock.

Conservative strategist Jon Fleischman, a former executive director of the state GOP, said he was thrilled by Kiley’s decision, which avoids a divisive intraparty battle.

“If you open up the dictionary and look for the word conservative, it’s a photo of Tom McClintock. He is the ideological leader of conservatives, not only in California but in Congress for many, many years,” Fleischman said, adding that the endorsements for McClintock purposefully came because Kiley was considering challenging him.

Kiley, who grew up near Sacramento, attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. A former Teach for America member, he served in the state Assembly for six years before being elected to Congress in 2022 with Trump’s backing. But he has bucked the president, notably on tariffs. He also unsuccessfully ran to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom during the 2021 recall, and has been a constant critic of the governor.

Kiley is now running in a Sacramento-area district represented by Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove). Democrats in the newly drawn district had a nearly 9-point voter registration edge in 2024. Bera is now running in the new version of Kiley’s district.

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In Kiley’s new race, his top rival is Dr. Richard Pan of Sacramento, a former state senator and staunch supporter of vaccinations.

“Kevin Kiley can try to rebrand himself, but voters know his extreme record,” Pan said in a statement. “He has stood with Donald Trump 98% of the time and was named a ‘MAGA Champion.’ The people of this district deserve better than political opportunism disguised as moderation. This race is about who will actually fight for healthcare, public health, and working families. I’ve done that my entire career. Kevin Kiley has not.”

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