The Federal Bureau of Investigation botched its investigation of USA Gymnastics National Medical Coordinator Larry Nassar and subsequently "made false statements" to investigators according to a new report from the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General.
The Inspector General's Report notes that, among other missteps, the FBI: failed to expeditiously notify state or local authorities or take other steps to mitigate the ongoing threat posed by Nassar, failed to document meetings, and failed to properly handle evidence that was turned over. Agents also included false and misleading statements in, and omitted material information from, an interview with a Nassar accuser and then made false statements of their own during inspector general-compelled interviews about their actions relating to allegations against Nassar.
After USA Gymnastics conducted an internal investigation into sexual assault allegations against Nassar in 2015, the findings — including all the evidence the internal inquiry turned up — were reported to the FBI's Indianapolis Field Office. That's where the FBI started dropping the ball.
The Indianapolis Field Office "conducted limited follow-up" that only included a phone interview with one of Nassar's alleged victims, and "did not formally document any of its investigative activity, including its July meeting with USA Gymnastics and its September 2 telephonic interview of one of the victim gymnasts. The office also did not formally open an investigation or assessment of the matter."
The Inspector General's investigation also found that the Indianapolis Field Office and United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Indiana, "concluded that there was no venue in Indianapolis" and "had serious questions as to whether the allegations against Nassar were sufficient to support federal jurisdiction."
Their concerns over venue for a potential case against Nassar were not accompanied by any attempt to protect other athletes or warn state or local authorities of the allegations.
Then, the FBI and USAO dropped the ball again after they concluded that the "Western District of Michigan and the FBI’s Lansing Resident Agency, where MSU is located and where Nassar treated patients" would be the most appropriate venue. "Accordingly, the [Assistant U.S. Attorney] advised the Indianapolis Field Office on September 2 to transfer the case to the FBI’s Lansing Resident Agency. However, the Indianapolis Field Office failed to do so, despite informing USA Gymnastics on September 4 that it had transferred the matter to the FBI’s Detroit Field Office (of which the FBI’s Lansing Resident Agency is a part)."
When USA Gymnastics subsequently reported allegations to the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, agents in L.A. checked with the Indianapolis Field Office to see what actions they had taken. Agents in Indianapolis told their colleagues in Los Angeles that they "had created a formal FBI complaint form (FD-71) in 2015 to transfer the Nassar allegations from the Indianapolis office to the Lansing Resident Agency," but no such form could be found in the FBI's systems by agents in Los Angeles or the Inspector General.
The FBI's Los Angeles Field Office took more investigative steps than Indianapolis, according to the Inspector General, but they also failed to "reach out to any state or local authorities, even though it was aware of allegations that Nassar may have violated state laws" and "did not take any action to mitigate the risk to gymnasts that Nassar continued to treat."
In the summer of 2016, the Michigan State University Police Department (MSUPD) received a complaint from a gymnast who accused Nassar of abuse similar to what two separate FBI Field Offices had been notified of, and a report in The Indianapolis Star detailed some of the allegations against Nassar. The result was dozens of female athletes coming forward to share similar allegations with the MSUPD. Then in September 2016, MSUPD "executed a search warrant at Nassar’s residence and discovered child pornography."
It wasn't until media reports and the MSUPD's warrant detailed the accusations against Nassar that FBI agents in Lansing knew there were allegations because the Indianapolis and Los Angeles Field Offices had never reported their knowledge. "The Lansing Resident Agency ultimately discovered over 30,000 images of child pornography on the devices seized by the MSUPD during its search of Nassar’s residence," reports the Inspector General.
These media reports also, for the first time, put Nassar's other employers — Michigan State University, Twistars USA Gymnastics Club, and Holt High School — on notice of the allegations against him. They all removed Nassar from his positions with them, but more than a year after the FBI had first been made aware of the allegations.
Damningly, the DOJ's Inspector General noted that dozens of young female athletes were abused by Nassar between the time the FBI's Indianapolis Field Office was first notified and the time reports went public and local authorities raided Nassar's home.
According to civil court documents, approximately 70 or more young athletes were allegedly sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment between July 2015, when USA Gymnastics first reported allegations about Nassar to the Indianapolis Field Office, and September 2016. For many of the approximately 70 or more athletes, the abuse by Nassar began before the FBI first became aware of allegations against Nassar and continued into 2016. For others, the alleged abuse began after USA Gymnastics reported the Nassar allegations to the Indianapolis Field Office in July 2015.
A statement from the FBI reacted to the Inspector General's report saying "this should not have happened," and "the actions and inactions of certain FBI employees described in the report are inexcusable and a discredit to this organization." "We will take all necessary steps to ensure that the failures of the employees outlined in the report do not happen again," the FBI's statement added.
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