[ad_1]
The Inspector General also reported that an FBI chief, the retired Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott, was considering a position with the United States Olympic Committee while the FBI considered how to deal with them. allegations regarding Nassar.
More than 200 women have come forward to demand sexual abuse by Nassar, most in his nearly two decades as a team doctor at USA Gymnastics. Nassar also worked as a team doctor and assistant professor at Michigan State University.
“In the fall of 2015… Abbott met [then-USA Gymnastics President Stephen] Penny in a bar and discussed a potential employment opportunity with the US Olympic Committee, ”the 117-page report reads. “Abbott spoke to Penny about his interest in the position of the US Olympic Committee and the Nassar Inquiry, while participating in FBI discussions related to the Nassar Inquiry.”
As the two discussed both the Nassar affair and its PR impact on USA Gymnastics, Penny “seemed willing to say a good word” to Abbott about the work, which was ultimately handed over to someone. another, according to the report.
Horowitz’s office concluded that in addition to violating the FBI’s conflict of interest policy, after the revelation of Abbott’s job search, he lied to investigators about it.
“Abbott should have known – and in fact knew from the evidence we found – that his actions would raise a question as to his impartiality,” the Inspector General’s team wrote. “We further concluded that Abbott made false statements to the OIG about the job discussion, his candidacy for the post, and his handling of Nassar’s allegations.”
Despite the Inspector General’s conclusion that Abbott and a special supervisory agent in Indianapolis lied about their actions, the Justice Department refused to prosecute Abbott or other FBI agents for their alleged misconduct, the report says. .
In an extraordinary letter appended to the report, a senior FBI official said the law enforcement agency accepts Horowitz’s findings and recommendations in their entirety.
“The actions and inactions of FBI employees described in the report are inexcusable and a discredit to this organization and the values we hold dear,” wrote Douglass Leff, deputy director of the FBI’s inspection division. “The conduct and the facts in the report are appalling. “
Leff noted that Abbott retired in 2018, putting him outside the scope of FBI discipline, and that his subordinate in Indianapolis is no longer a supervisor and “does not work on FBI matters” while waiting. ‘outcome of the disciplinary proceedings.
Leff called the flaws identified in the report “completely unacceptable” and said the FBI had taken immediate action to ensure such failures did not happen again. The changes include changes to FBI policies on documenting complaints of sexual abuse, particularly against children.
After years of suspicion and a major exposure in the Indianapolis Star, Nassar was arrested in November 2016 on charges of sexual abuse in the state and the following month on federal child pornography charges.
Nassar eventually pleaded guilty to state and federal charges and was sentenced to over 100 years in prison.
Horowitz visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon to brief lawmakers on the results of the review. Some members of Congress said they were deeply troubled by the findings and the possibility that the FBI’s mismanagement of the case gave Nassar time to assault more girls.
“The Department of Justice and the FBI must never again allow such negligence in investigations to happen again,” Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Said in a statement. “It was clear that what happened to these young women should never have happened. Yet the FBI’s failures to investigate Nassar resulted in at least 40 other young women being assaulted by him. “
“I am deeply concerned that the FBI may have been able to prevent some of the heinous acts of sexual abuse against these women and children and bring them some justice, but instead it does has not acted, “Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said in a statement. “Our own federal government has allowed innocent women and children to be sexually abused.
Portman called on “the administration” to explain why FBI officials who allegedly lied to investigators have not been prosecuted. However, the Inspector General’s report indicates that most decisions not to prosecute were made last September, under the Trump administration, although a decision not to reopen certain aspects of the case has been made. was taken in May of this year.
[ad_2]
Source link