FBI seriously mishandled Larry Nassar case, according to Justice Dept. watchdog

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: ESPN

FBI seriously mishandled Larry Nassar case, according to Justice Dept. watchdog

3:59 PM ET
Dan Murphy
ESPN Staff Writer

Senior FBI officials failed on several fronts to properly handle claims of sexual abuse made against disgraced Olympic doctor Larry Nassar, according to a report released Wednesday by the Department of Justice's inspector general.

FBI officials in Indianapolis first learned of allegations against Nassar in July 2015. Agents waited five weeks to conduct any interviews on the matter and then failed to follow protocol in sharing information with others in the bureau and other law enforcement agencies. Nassar, who later pleaded guilty to sexually abusing gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment, continued to see patients for more than a year until a separate complaint made to police in Michigan resulted in his arrest. More than 70 women and girls claim in civil lawsuits that Nassar sexually assaulted them during that yearlong period after the FBI received complaints about him.

The report said the FBI officials on the case did not respond with the "seriousness and urgency" required by serious allegations. The investigators also found the supervisory special agent in Indianapolis failed to properly document complaints, mishandled evidence and made false statements about the case. A now-retired FBI agent made false statements under oath as well, leading a pair of U.S. senators to call for criminal charges.

"There were a number of documents and oral statements made to investigators that were plainly false," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who led a Congressional investigation of the Nassar case along with Sen. Jerry Moran. "I would like to know why there were no criminal charges and whether these agents will be held accountable. There has to be a measure of accountability."

Wednesday's report says W. Jay Abbott, the special agent in charge of the Nassar case in Indianapolis, provided false statements to the justice department investigators about his interest in working for USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee. The investigators also found that Abbott showed "extremely poor judgement" in the relationship he developed in 2015 with then-USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny

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Read more: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31817658/fbi-seriously-mishandled-larry-nassar-case-according-justice-dept-watchdog

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National Security

FBI failed to pursue Nassar sex-abuse allegations, inspector general finds

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-nassar-investigation-failures/2021/07/14/ebc37274-e4c4-11eb-8aa5-5662858b696e_story.html

By Devlin Barrett
July 14, 2021 Updated today at 6:10 p.m. EDT

The FBI failed to properly investigate sex-abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the former doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, according to a scathing report by the Justice Department's inspector general, who also determined that FBI officials gave misleading or false answers when confronted about those failures.

Despite "the extraordinarily serious nature of the allegations and the possibility that Nassar's conduct could be continuing, senior officials in the FBI Indianapolis Field Office failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond to them, and violated multiple FBI policies," concludes the report issued Wednesday by Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

The report says that when confronted with the shortcomings in their handling of the case, such as failure to interview alleged victims, FBI officials in Indianapolis sought to blame others. (1)

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[Read the full report on Larry Nassar probe from the Justice Department inspector general] (2)

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By Devlin Barrett
Devlin Barrett writes about the FBI and the Justice Department, and is the author of "October Surprise: How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election." He was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for National Reporting, for coverage of Russian interference in the U.S. election. Twitter https://twitter.com/DevlinBarrett

(1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/fbi-inspector-general-finds-major-flaws-in-handling-of-gymnastics-sex-abuse-case/59d6af8e-7367-450f-9fe8-91009bde6085/

(2) https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/fbi-inspector-general-finds-major-flaws-in-handling-of-gymnastics-sex-abuse-case/59d6af8e-7367-450f-9fe8-91009bde6085/

[yardwork]

1. No wonder the FBI didn't investigate Brett either.

[DURHAM D]

2. James Comey hates women. nt

[yardwork]

3. Evidently.

[Lonestarblue]

4. Maybe we need more female FBI agents. They know that sexual assault is real.

Too many men just think it’s sex and women are being hysterical about it. Instill remember the comment from the father of the Stanford student who raped an unconscious woman. He said something along the lines of “It’s only 20 minutes. Women should just lie back and enjoy it.” What a disgusting piece of crap!

[Me.]

5. THere's A lot Of Ths That Goes On

CY Vance...need i say more

[LiberalFighter]

6. Was the FBI agent a sex pervert too and the reason for his interest in gymnasts?

[2Gingersnaps]

7. Call it what it is,

one of the last bastions of "common law," sexual abuse of woman and children is an entitlement, a privilege. Naughty sex, "not a crime." Proof? Catholic Church, fringe protestant "churches," Boy Scouts, predator sports doctors. Jeffrey Epstein. Ken Starr at Baylor. Harvey Weinstein. Bill Cosby. Donald Trump. Josh Duggar. Matt Gaetz. This bullshit right here. Is there a DSM for the resulting trauma and PTSD that even makes it treatable in our medical system? PTSD was not treatable as a consequence of military service until the 70's, and only after that time was it even recognized across the general population. And then we wonder where the mental health crisis in this nation comes from.