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Two former FBI agents accused of mishandling sexual abuse allegations against former U.S. gymnast Larry Nassar will not be charged with a felony, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
In a statement, officials said that after a “careful review of the evidence,” the department “is adhering to its prior decision not to file federal criminal charges,” adding: “This does not reflect in no way does the opinion that Nassar’s investigation was treated as it should have been, nor does it in any way reflect the approval or contempt for the conduct of the former agents. “
John Manly, a lawyer for many of Nassar’s alleged victims, called the decision “incomprehensible” and said FBI agents “violated his oaths of office and colluded with the cover-up.” of the worst sexual assault scandal in the history of sport. ” He said that the timing of the announcement, shortly before a holiday weekend and during coverage of a school shooting, “is a more cynical attempt by the [Justice Department] to cover up the complicity of the FBI ”in the Nassar scandal.
The decision marks the third time federal prosecutors examined whether a senior FBI official and a case officer should be accused of lying about their work in the Nassar case. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco opened the review after several world-famous gymnasts testified in Congress in September, describing in horrific detail the abuses they suffered and their disbelief at the FBI’s decision not to investigate Nassar further. after allegations against him first arose.
Monaco, announcing the review, said officials would look into the matter again because new evidence had emerged. Although he did not specify what the evidence was, lawmakers have harshly criticized the Justice Department for failing to file charges after the agency’s inspector general concluded that a supervising officer and his boss lied to internal investigators. to cover up their failures.
Nassar spent thousands for himself in prison while paying little to his victims
It is rare for the Justice Department to even consider reopening a case that was closed without charge. One of Nassar’s agents retired years ago and the other was fired last summer following a scathing report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who found major steps wrong in managing the allegations against Nassar by the FBI in 2015 that allowed him to victimize more patients earlier. he was arrested by state authorities the following year.
In its statement, the Justice Department said that “it will continue to learn from what happened in this matter and will strive to keep victims at the center of our work and to ensure that they are heard, respected and treated fairly throughout. the process “. as they deserve, “and said he wanted to work with Congress to address the unspecified loopholes in the law to” help prevent events like this from happening in the future and hold those responsible accountable. “
Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) And Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Called the decision “experimental.” In a joint statement, they said: “FBI agents who knew about the abuse of Larry Nassar did nothing, and then lied about it and will not face legal consequences for their actions. “Athletes would have been spared unimaginable abuse if these agents had just done so. Their jobs. Their actions demand accountability.”
Simone Biles and three other high-profile gymnasts gave an emotional testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last year about Nassar’s abuse and the FBI’s inaction.
“So I blame Larry Nassar, and I also blame a whole system that allowed and perpetrated his abuse,” Biles told the committee.
More than 330 girls and women have come forward to say they were victims of Nassar under the guise of medical treatment. He was eventually convicted of state sexual abuse and federal charges of child pornography, and is serving an effective life sentence in prison.
Monaco and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray have also apologized publicly to Nassar’s victims, and Wray called the office’s failures “inexcusable.” It should never have happened, and we are doing our best to make sure it never happens again. “
Bile and other gymnasts give a tearful testimony
The key conduct in question in the Nassar case occurred within the federal statute of limitations to prosecute those involved.
Supervising Special Agent Michael Langeman, who was fired last year, allegedly lied to the inspector general’s office in interviews in 2020 and 2021, according to the Horowitz report.
Langeman was asked at length why he did not initiate a case against Nassar, whether he had in fact sent the matter to a non-FBI office, and why he wrote a report of an interview with a key victim. ‘a year after the interview. place.
The inspector general’s report did not identify Langeman by name, but found that he lied to investigators “in an effort to minimize or excuse his mistakes.”
Horowitz also discovered that while the FBI was handling Nassar’s allegations in late 2015, the head of the FBI’s Indianapolis office, W. Jay Abbott, spoke with Stephen Penny, then president of USA Gymnastics. to get Abbott to work on the Olympic Committee. .
The inspector general said Abbott applied for the job but did not get it, and when confronted about it in 2019, he falsely told the inspector general that he had not looked for the job. Penny resigned under pressure from her job at USA Gymnastics in 2017 and in 2018 was charged with manipulating evidence in the sexual abuse case. These charges were dismissed last month. Abbott retired from the FBI.
Langeman and Abbott did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
One of the FBI’s main failures in the Nassar case was failing to alert state authorities to the possibility that he could commit sexual offenses against children, offenses that state prosecutors could, and ultimately did, prosecute.
In response to these criticisms, Justice Department officials have told federal prosecutors and agents to coordinate more closely with state and local law enforcement on possible offenses that may fall outside federal law, but are still valid. worth pursuing.
“Even in those cases where the federal government cannot file its own criminal charges, our obligation to protect victims of crime and ensure public safety does not end,” Monaco wrote in a note from the Department of Homeland Security. Justice. “Instead, proper coordination with state, local, or tribal law collaborators may become more important, especially in the face of apparent and consistent criminal behavior that puts victims at risk.”