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Wow, the FBI's failure here is astounding. > The FBI's investigation into Nassar started in July 2015, after USA Gymnastics President and CEO Stephen Penny rep
by istjohn 5y ago
Wow, the FBI's failure here is astounding.
> The FBI's investigation into Nassar started in July 2015, after USA Gymnastics President and CEO Stephen Penny reported the allegations to the FBI's Indianapolis field office.
> That office, then led by Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott, did not formally open an investigation.
> The FBI only interviewed one witness - Maroney - several months later, in September 2015. It failed to formally document that interview in an official report known as a "302" until February 2017 - well after the FBI had arrested Nassar on charges of possessing sexually explicit images of children in December 2016.
> Abbott, who retired from the FBI in 2018, also violated the FBI's conflict of interest policy by discussing a possible job with the U.S. Olympic Committee while he was involved with the Nassar investigation.
> As the FBI delayed its probe, Nassar went on to abuse more victims. At one point in Wednesday's hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal asked all four athletes whether they knew of victims who were abused after the July 2015 disclosure to the FBI.
> "Yes," all four of them said.
- whyenot 5y ago> Wray said the case was presented twice for possible prosecution and declined, but he deferred to federal prosecutors to explain their reasoning.
- scns 5y agoThis makes me very sad. How do these individuals look in the mirror? How do they justify the compensation for their work? Why did they do nothing to protect these girls from a predator?
- kaino128 5y agoIt certainly seems like this agent was wildly negligent in his duties but I wonder if part of the slow and insufficient response might have been induced by the way in which the CEO handed over the complaint. One of the hallmarks of this case seems to have been large amounts of willful ignorance of the part of USA gymnastics leadership. I wouldn’t be surprised if less than 100% of the full import of the accusations made it across to the FBI from the CEO. Of course the FBI ideally should investigate everything professionally and thoroughly no matter the framing and how powerful the people involved are...
- chasd00 5y agoi'm not an FBI agent but it seems reasonable to me that the next thing you do after reading one accusation is pick up the phone and call the accuser. Whether you have 1,100, or 1,000 accusations makes no difference, after reading the first, you pick up the phone.
- mberning 5y agoThey won’t investigate child abuse but they will hatch a plot for a soft coup, a domestic terrorist kidnapping plot, or send a dozen agents to investigate a garage door rope.
- merpnderp 5y agoDoesn't this go beyond the FBI? Weren't the DOJ, FBI and Olympic committee all implicated by congress?
- chasd00 5y agoOf all things in the world to let slide, sexual assault of a child? I just can't believe it. How many other people have turned to the FBI for justice and received nothing while the crimes against them continue unabated? In the real world this level of failure would present significant existential risk to an organization.