FBI failures in Larry Nassar probe exposed as Senate hears testimony from top gymnasts

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The hearing examines how the FBI mishandled its investigation into Nassar’s allegations, which first came to the agency’s attention in July 2015. Several protocol violations resulted in months of delays, such as This is shown in a scathing report by the Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice released in July.

As the federal investigation languished, Nassar abused dozens of victims, according to the Inspector General’s report.

FBI officials “did not respond to Nassar’s allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency they deserved and demanded, made many fundamental mistakes when responding, and violated several policies from the FBI, “the report said.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Chris Wray will also testify.

“The failure of the FBI in this case has led to the victimization of more athletes,” Judicial President Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said in July.

Nassar pleaded guilty in 2018 to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct in a case brought by the Michigan Attorney General. He was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison, after more than 150 women and girls told court he sexually assaulted them in the past two decades.

Gymnasts ready to express themselves

The gymnasts who testified on Wednesday have all spoken publicly of being the victims of Nassar’s abuse. Nassar, who also worked for Michigan State University, inappropriately touched athletes under the pretext of giving them medical treatment.

Biles – a winner of seven Olympic medals, as well as multiple world and national championships – revealed this year that she was motivated to compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics in part because it would force the sport to face its shortcomings in the protection of its athletes. .

“I feel like if there hadn’t been a survivor in the sport, they would just have put it aside,” Biles told NBC’s Hoda Kotb. “But since I’m still here and I have a pretty big social media presence and platform, they have to do something.”

Raisman – who won Olympic medals in 2012 and 2016 – also criticized how Nassar and others have been allowed to abuse gymnasts for so long, telling CNN’s “New Day” in March that “Monsters don’t not thrive for decades without the help of the people. ”
Raisman, fellow Olympians Maroney and Nichols, who competed on the USA squad for the 2015 world championships, all made public statements in connection with the court case against Nassar.
Nichols reported Nassar to US Gymnastics in 2015, alleging that her inappropriate touching began when she was 15 and he also messaged her on Facebook to compliment her appearance.

They will now address the Senate as lawmakers pressure the Justice Department to take more action to address flaws in its Nassar inquiry.

Bipartite anger at the Capitol

Wray and Horowitz’s appearance before the committee will be just the last time those responsible have come under intense questioning on Capitol Hill. During President Donald Trump’s administration, Wray – who was confirmed as director in 2017 – has repeatedly faced hostility from Republicans over the FBI’s investigation into campaign links with Russia.

More recently, Democrats have grilled Wray over the FBI’s lack of preparedness for the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Failed FBI investigation into Larry Nassar is another black eye for the agency
Anger at Nassar has united lawmakers on both sides, as the FBI failure investigation enjoys bipartisan support. Lawmakers have also crossed the aisle to support legislation that seeks to hold universities accountable for failing to protect students from sexual abuse.

Additionally, there is frustration that the Justice Department has refused to prosecute the two FBI officials named in the IG report for alleged false statements.

“We believe an explanation is due to the critically injured athletes and the American public,” wrote Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Dianne Feinstein of California, both Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, in a recent letter to Department of Justice officials. Justice expressing their “deep concern” about the lack of prosecution.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the FBI had fired an agent accused of failing to initiate a proper investigation into Nassar.

Agent Michael Langeman lost his job last week, two people familiar with the matter told The Post. Langeman was a special supervisory agent at the FBI office in Indianapolis and had questioned Maroney in 2015 about his allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar.

CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.

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