A Virginia school district official conspired to “skirt” restrictions on transgender ideology in schools, prompting a Title IX “expert” to praise her “clever” workaround, emails shared with The Daily Wire reveal.

On January 22, 2025, Leah Bressler, Montgomery County Public Schools’ Title IX compliance officer, corresponded with the Association of Title IX Administrators about ways to respond to Trump’s expected executive actions on transgender ideology. In the email exchange, obtained by Speech First and shared with The Daily Wire. Bressler proposed altering the district’s code of conduct in a way to keep its current “gender identity protections” in place. 

In response, Brett Sokolow, the chair of the advisory board for the Association of Title IX Administrators, said that he didn’t know if Bressler’s proposal would successfully “skirt” executive action, but that it may be worth it to “go down fighting.” 

The exchange, with the subject line “Implications of EO,” occurred two days after Trump’s inauguration. 

“This is just a brainstorm….What if the system just moved to a code of conduct that provided the Title IX framework to any allegation for any reason that violated the Davis standard?” Bressler wrote. “With support services, monitoring, documentation as required in Title IX — but open the gate to entire conduct policy? Our jurisdiction has protections in our policy manual for gender identity – if the policies applied to everything equally across the board- couldn’t the system maintain the protections?”

The Davis Standard refers to federal guidelines that stipulate schools can only be held liable for sexual harassment and violations of Title IX if they have knowledge of, and are indifferent to, sexual harassment.

In response, Sokolow said that Bressler may have come up with a “clever” way to get past Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s (R) Department of Education, which holds that Title IX allows schools to restrict bathroom use by sex. 

“This is too state-specific for me to really be able to opine on, Leah. It’s clever, but I have no idea if it would work to skirt the limitations that VA is enacting. My suspicion is that state legislatures will punish cleverness, in the long run (see Texas). Meaning, that if school officials like you find legit ways to work around the state limitations, the state will learn from this and respond by tightening its limitations,” Sokolow replied. 

“This might be a viable strategy for you, or at least a good delaying tactic, but I don’t think it has legs in the long term. I think if it walks like a Title IX duck, it’s not going to matter what container we place it in. But, fight the good fight. I’m just giving you thoughts on whether your idea is a winner…but it might be good to go down fighting,” he added. 

That email came two days after Trump signed an executive order on “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism,” which rescinded the Biden administration’s application of Title IX to gender identity. He later signed an executive order that directed federal funding away from schools that push gender ideology on students. 

Current Montgomery County Public Schools policies stipulate that students are allowed to use the bathroom or locker room of their choice based on their gender identity, meaning that males are allowed into female restrooms and changing areas.

When asked by The Daily Wire if it consults on bypassing federal regulations, the Association of Title IX Administrators said that it does “not provide legal advice.” 

“ATIXA often discusses with members the challenges of competing and unclear federal, state, and court standards, and we encourage our members to explore the contours of these challenges fully to best assess how their schools, districts, and institutions should respond to a dynamic legal environment related to sex discrimination,” the organization said. 

A similar dynamic has played out across the country as liberal school officials have resisted Trump’s efforts to purge leftist ideology from federally funded schools and empower parents concerned about political indoctrination.  

Speech First Acting Executive Director Nicole Neily called for Congress to step into the fight over Title IX.

“It’s appalling — albeit unsurprising — that Title IX administrators seem to be determined to circumvent the very laws they’re supposed to be enforcing,” Neily said. “America’s girls are little more than collateral damage in these activists’ larger political war, which is why it’s imperative that Congress steps in to provide certainty and clarity and end these games.”

On Monday, the Department of Justice announced that Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) has been charged in connection with a scuffle at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, earlier this month.

“Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement,” Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba said in a post on X.

McIver insists the case has been tainted by politics.

🚨 Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/TV00uwRtKq

— US Attorney Habba (@USAttyHabba) May 19, 2025

McIver joined other House Democrats from New Jersey, demanding they be allowed to conduct “oversight” of the ICE detention facility at Delaney Hall on May 9. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat running for New Jersey governor who claims the ICE site was opened improperly, was also present. At one point, there was a breach. ICE body-cam footage shows part of a confrontation between the New Jersey Democrats and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents.

NEW: DHS has provided @FoxNews ICE bodycam video from the altercation at the Delaney Hall detention facility yesterday. They say the video clearly shows @RepLaMonica (red clothing) shoving/elbowing her way past a DHS agent to get past the gate and into the property, followed… pic.twitter.com/GOAKm6U80W

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 10, 2025

Baraka was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor charge of trespass, but Habba said in a statement on Monday that her office agreed to dismiss it. She even offered to personally give him a tour of Delaney Hall in the “spirit of public interest.”

Yet the “dismissal against the mayor is not the end of this matter,” Habba said. “Congressional oversight is an important constitutional function and one that I fully support. However, that is not at issue in this case.”

Habba, who previously served as President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and White House aide, said McIver had been charged because her alleged conduct “cannot be overlooked by the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey, and it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected when executing their duties.”

The move is sure to escalate animosity between Democrats and the Trump administration in the already-tense debate on illegal immigration and deportations.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who warned last week a “red line” would be crossed if his colleagues involved in the incident were to be arrested by federal authorities or get sanctioned, said in a statement with other House Democrat leaders that the decision to charge McIver was “extreme, morally bankrupt and lacks any basis in law or fact” and they vowed to “respond vigorously in the days to come at a time, place and manner of our choosing.”

McIver struck a defiant tone in response to being charged.

“Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall in my district. We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short. Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka,” McIver said in a statement.

“The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she added. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court.”

Habba said she “persistently made efforts to address these issues without bringing criminal charges and have given Representative McIver every opportunity to come to a resolution, but she has unfortunately declined.” She concluded: “No one is above the law — politicians or otherwise. It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work.”

In a post on X, Fox News national correspondent Alexis McAdams reported that she was told McIver is facing several felony charges and faces possible time behind bars.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also issued a post on X concerning the situation.

“After a thorough review of the video footage of Delaney Hall and a full investigation from HSI, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey has made the determination to charge Congresswoman LaMonica McIver for assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officers,” Noem said.

“No one is above the law. If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she added. “We thank our brave ICE law enforcement officers for their service to this great nation.”

DHS previously said two other House Democrats — New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson-Coleman and Rob Menendez — “stormed the gate and broke into” the facility in Newark that day. Menendez questioned how it was acceptable for authorities to “put their hands” on his colleagues.

House Republicans have introduced measures to punish the Democrats involved in the altercation, including a censure resolution against McIver and a resolution to strip them of their committee assignments.

Fox News reporter Chad Pergram shared on X last week that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he believed there “needs to be an appropriate measure taken” as the “video doesn’t lie.” Johnson added, “I think it was wildly inappropriate for those members to do that and we’ll have to take appropriate action.”

On Monday, House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said in a statement, “Like most Americans, I am so tired of seeing those on the Left constantly get away with their lawless, criminal behavior. I fully support the Trump administration’s decision to charge Mrs. McIver, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, of all places, for her actions that are clearly documented on video.”

He added, “I will continue to work with House leadership to ensure we do our part to hold her accountable, as well. We need to send a clear message to would-be lawbreakers around this country — under this administration, no matter how privileged you are, you will be subject to the rule of law.”