Larry Nassar Survivors Rail Against New Head of American Gymnastics



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Some women sexually abused by former coach Larry Nassar denounce USA Gymnastics' new choice as Acting President and CEO, as she was working for a law firm that represented the organization when the company was in charge. Nassar investigation has begun.

USA Gymnastics Friday appointed former representative Mary Bono (R-Calif.) To head the organization while she was trying to fix the situation after Nassar was accused of having sexually abused hundreds of athletes under his responsibility. Many Nassar survivors, including Olympian Aly Raisman, pointed out that Bono was working for Faegre Baker Daniels, who represented USA Gymnastics at the opening of Nassar investigations in 2015.

Raisman, who publicly accused Nassar of serial sexual violence in 2017, said Monday that the law firm helped hide the violence committed by Nassar.

Some women sexually abused by former coach Larry Nassar denounce USA Gymnastics' new choice as Acting President and CEO, as she was working for a law firm that represented the organization when the company was in charge. Nassar investigation has begun.

USA Gymnastics Friday appointed former representative Mary Bono (R-Calif.) To head the organization while she was trying to fix the situation after Nassar was accused of having sexually abused hundreds of athletes under his responsibility. Many Nassar survivors, including Olympian Aly Raisman, pointed out that Bono was working for Faegre Baker Daniels, who represented USA Gymnastics at the opening of Nassar investigations in 2015.

Raisman, who publicly accused Nassar of serial sexual violence in 2017, said Monday that the law firm helped hide the violence committed by Nassar.

"My teammates and I reported Nassar's abuse to USAG in 2015," she writes in a tweet. "We now know that the USOC and Faegre Baker Daniels' lawyers (Mary Bono's office) were also informed at the time, yet Nassar continued to abuse children for 13 months!" Why hire a person associated with the company who helped cover our abuses? "

Raisman added that the organization had not changed despite his apparent efforts to repair the damage caused by Nassar, who is currently serving a life sentence for charges of sexual abuse and pornography. stage children.

"Clearly, it's not a" new "USAG. The same corrupt decisions, "wrote Raisman.

Kaylee Lorincz, another Nassar survivor, criticized Bono's nomination on Sunday.

"You owe me an explanation of why you and your company allowed Larry to mistreat me in 2016 after you knew he was abusing little girls," she wrote in retweeting Bono.

The USA Gymnastics board of directors told HuffPost that Bono was not working with the gymnastics organization during his stay at Faegre Baker Daniels.

"Mary Bono worked for Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting, the Legislative Strategies and Policy Branch of Washington, DC," the statement said. "Faegre Baker Daniels is a large global company with a number of divisions and areas, and Mary did not participate in FBD's work with USA Gymnastics as an official board."

A spokeswoman for Faegre Baker Daniels also refuted the camouflage allegations.

"FaegreBD is guided by the core values ​​of our society, which include honesty, integrity, respect and service," she said in a statement to HuffPost. "We defend these values ​​when we provide advice to our customers."

"It is common knowledge that a FaegreBD attorney has been involved in denouncing Larry Nassar to the FBI in the summer of 2015 – a fact that refutes any pretense of concealment," the statement said. "We are bound by our obligation of confidentiality vis-à-vis our customers. Therefore, we can not say more for the moment. "

Aly Raisman is one of Larry Nassar's survivors who criticized USA Gymnastics' decision to appoint Mary Bono interim president

Brendan McDermid / Reuters

Aly Raisman is one of Larry Nassar's survivors who criticized USA Gymnastics' decision to appoint Mary Bono as acting President and CEO.

USA Gymnastics has established ties with Nassar in the summer of 2015; Michigan State University, to which Nassar was also affiliated, sacked him in September 2016. Nassar was allowed to see patients at the MSU while he was the subject of a Criminal investigation for sexual assault between 2015 and 2016. He allegedly mistreated more than a dozen women.

John Manly, a lawyer representing dozens of survivors from Nassar, supported the critics of Raisman and Lorincz.

"What the board really says:" We all know that Bono works for the law firm Faegre. Hell, that's why we chose it. Do you think we want a president who would disclose what we knew and when we knew about the sexual abuse of children by Nassars? Are you crazy? " Manly tweeted. "USAG is rotten to the heart."

Olympic gymnast and Nassar survivor Simone Biles also called Bono for posting a photo of her covering the Nike logo on her golf shoes. The act appears to be part of a move to denigrate the sportswear company for its partnership with Colin Kaepernick, who knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.

"Mouth down. Do not worry, it's not like we need a smarter president of USA Gymnastics or sponsors, or anything, "Biles said on Twitter.

Bono subsequently deleted the tweet showing it covering the logo and apologized in a statement.

"It does not reflect the way I will approach my position at USA Gymnastics," she said. "I will do everything in my power to help change the culture and work with the community at large to create an open, safe and positive environment."

Bono succeeds Kerry Perry as Acting President and CEO, who resigned in September after nine tumultuous months.

USA Gymnastics has consistently failed to find new people to lead the organization. Perry took over the role after pressure on Steve Penny to quit in March 2017 following allegations that he was too slow to deal with complaints of sexual abuse about Nassar. More recently, Mary Lee Tracy was appointed Elite Development Coordinator in August, but was quickly criticized for her defense of Nassar in 2016 after dozens of women accused her of sexual violence. USA Gymnastics asked for Tracy's resignation shortly thereafter.

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