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Two former FBI agents accused of mishandling allegations of sexual abuse against former US gymnast Larry Nasar will not be charged with a crime, the Justice Department said Thursday.
In a statement, officials said that after a “careful review of the evidence”, the department “adheres to its previous decision not to bring federal criminal charges”, adding: “This does not in any way reflect the view that Nasar’s investigation is being treated properly. , nor does it in any way reflect the approval or disregard for the behavior of former agents.
John Manley, a lawyer for many of Nasar’s alleged victims, called the decision “incomprehensible” and said FBI agents had “violated their oaths and been involved in covering up the worst sexual violence scandal in the history of the sport.” He said the time of the announcement – shortly before the holiday weekend and during the coverage of the shooting at school – was another cynical experience of [Justice Department] to cover up the FBI’s involvement in the Nasar scandal.
The decision notes for the third time, federal prosecutors investigated whether a senior FBI official and case agent should be accused of lying about their work in the Nasar case. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco opened the review after several world-renowned gymnasts testified before Congress in September, describing in horrific detail the abuse they experienced and their distrust of the FBI’s decision not to investigate Nasar further. after the charges against him first surfaced.
Announcing the review, Monaco said officials would reconsider the issue as new evidence emerged. Although she did not specify what the evidence was, lawmakers sharply criticized the justice ministry for failing to file charges after the agency’s chief inspector concluded he had a supervising agent and his boss lied to internal investigators in an attempt to cover up their failures.
Nasar spent thousands on himself in prison while paying little to his victims
It is rare for the Ministry of Justice to even consider reopening a case that has been closed without charge. One of Nassar’s agents retired years ago, and the other was fired last summer as a result of a scathing report by Justice Department Chief Inspector Michael Horowitz, who found serious errors in the 2015 FBI allegations against Nasar. allowed him to pursue more patients before he was arrested by state authorities the following year.
In a statement, the Ministry of Justice said it “will continue to learn from what has happened on this issue and will strive to keep victims at the heart of our work and ensure that they are heard, respected and treated fairly throughout the process.” as they deserve ”and stated that he wanted to work with Congress to address unspecified loopholes in the law to“ help prevent events like this from happening in the future and hold perpetrators accountable ”.
Sensors Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) And Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Called the decision “infuriating.” In a joint statement, they said: “FBI agents who knew about Larry Nasar’s abuse did nothing and then lied about it, they will not have legal consequences for their actions. Dozens of athletes would have been spared unimaginable abuse if these agents had just made their jobs. Their actions require responsibility. “
Simone Bailes and three other high-ranking gymnasts testified emotionally before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year about Nasar’s abuse and inaction by the FBI.
“I blame Larry Nasar and I also blame a whole system that allowed and abused him,” Bales told the committee.
More than 330 girls and women said they were victims of Nasar under the guise of medical treatment. He was eventually convicted of sexual violence in the state and federal charges of child pornography and is serving an effective life sentence in prison.
Monaco and FBI Director Christopher A. Ray also publicly apologized to Nasar’s victims, and Ray called the bureau’s failures “unforgivable.” This should never have happened and we are doing our best to make sure it never happens again. “
Beals and other gymnasts testify in tears
The key behavior considered in the Nasar case occurred within the federal statute of limitations for prosecuting those involved.
Special Oversight Agent Michael Langemann, who was fired last year, claims to have lied to the inspector general’s office in interviews in 2020 and 2021, according to Horowitz’s report.
Langeman was asked in detail why he did not file a lawsuit against Nasar, whether he actually took the matter to another FBI office, and why he wrote a report from an interview with a key victim more than a year after the interview.
The inspector general’s report did not identify Langemann by name, but found that he lied to investigators “in an attempt to minimize or apologize for his mistakes.”
Horowitz also found that while the FBI was investigating Nasar’s allegations in late 2015, the head of the FBI’s Indianapolis office, W. J. Abbott, spoke with Stephen Penny, then president of USA Gymnastics, about finding Abbott’s job. in the Olympic Committee.
The Inspector General said that Abbott had applied for the job but had not received it, and when confronted with this in 2019, he falsely told the Inspector General that he had not sought the job. Penny resigned under pressure from his job at USA Gymnastics in 2017 and was charged in 2018 with falsifying evidence in a sexual assault case. These allegations were dismissed last month. Abbott is retiring from the FBI.
Langeman and Abbott did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
One of the FBI’s main failures in the Nasar case was not to warn the state about the possibility of him committing sexual crimes against children – crimes in which state prosecutors could and ultimately did, accuse him.
In response to this criticism, Justice Department officials have told federal prosecutors and agents to coordinate more closely with state and local law enforcement agencies on potential crimes that may be outside federal law but may still be worth pursuing.
“Even in cases where the federal government cannot bring 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 Ministry of Justice. “Instead, proper coordination with state, local or tribal law enforcement partners may become more important, especially in the face of apparently ongoing criminal behavior that puts victims at risk.”
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