Inspector General Says F.B.I. Botched Nassar Abuse Investigation

It also said Mr. Abbott violated F.BI. policy when he spoke with Steve Penny, then the president and chief executive of U.S.A. Gymnastics, about potential job opportunities with the U.S. Olympic Committee, even as the two discussed the allegations against Mr. Nassar. Mr. Abbott later applied for a job at the U.S.O.C., but twice lied to the inspector general about seeking that job.

The Justice Department declined to prosecute Mr. Abbott and an unnamed supervisory special agent in Indianapolis in September 2020, according to the report. Mr. Abbott, who retired in January 2018, according to the report, could not be immediately reached for comment.

For Rachael Denhollander, a lawyer and a former gymnast who was the first person to publicly accuse Mr. Nassar of assault, the details in the report showed “an incredibly deep level of betrayal” that did not come as a surprise.

“When I came forward, I fully expected multiple levels of botched investigations and cover-ups because that’s what survivors are up against,” she said, adding that she assumed Mr. Nassar was abusing other women because he had worked with the national team for four years before abusing her, and she knew how abusers worked.

“This is what survivors are up against,” she said. “And they constantly get asked the question, ‘Why don’t survivors report?’ This is why.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/sports/olympics/fbi-nassar-report.html