Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman focused on how the FBI erred in its investigation into allegations against Nassar and intimidation from sports governing bodies.
Raisman described the slip as “serving innocent children down to a pedophile, on a silver plate.”
As Biles said, he blamed not only Nassar, but also a whole infrastructure that “enabled and [perpetuated] He said he had decided to compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics, in part, because his presence on the team would not allow the “crisis” to be “ignored.”
His testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee was incredibly touching and shed new light on how those who had blinded the abuses had not yet been fully responsible.
Here are the key points to bring to the audience:
The gymnasts revealed new details about how the FBI mistaken the investigation
The gymnasts gave a new insight into how the FBI had mistreated their allegations, explaining exactly what they had told the FBI and how they had to work to get their allegations heard.
It was 14 months after he reported his allegations that Raisman finally got to talk to the FBI, he said, despite repeating his interview requests.
U.S. Gymnastics Chief Steve Penny arranged for the interview at the Olympic Training Center, Raisman said, “where he was under the control and observation of U.S. Gymnastics and the Olympic and Paralympic Committee of the United States. United States.. “
“On the day of my interview, Steve Penny flew to the Olympic Training Center and made sure he was aware he was there,” he said.
She said she had also been pressured by the FBI to accept a proposed lawsuit settlement for Nassar.
“The officer downplayed the importance of my abuse. It made me feel like it wasn’t worth pursuing my criminal case,” Raisman said.
“They chose to falsify my report and not only minimize my abuses, but they silenced me again,” Maroney said.
The gymnasts are still bewitched by how the FBI got the case wrong
Gymnasts are still dealing with lasting effects of how the FBI abused their allegations.
Maroney, recounting her 2015 interview, described how the agent who interviewed her remained “silent” as she began to cry over the phone.
“I was struck by both the agent’s silence and the disregard for my trauma. After that minute of silence, he asked, ‘Is that all?’ “Those words, in and of themselves, were one of the worst moments of this whole process, because the people who were supposed to protect me had to minimize and ignore my abuses.”
Raisman, for his part, recalled how an FBI agent “had made me feel that my abuses didn’t count and that it wasn’t a big deal.”
“And I remember I was there with the FBI agent and him, trying to convince me it wasn’t that bad,” he said. “And it took me years of therapy to realize that my abuse was bad, that it does matter.”
“I can’t tell you it’s horrible to meet young girls who look up, who see me compete in the Olympics and tell me they went to see Nassar, because of me and my teammates, because they wanted to see the Olympic doctor, “Raisman said.
Gymnasts and lawmakers infuriated by DOJ refusal to prosecute FBI agents
The Justice Department’s decision not to charge two former FBI employees who were referred by the department’s inspector general for possible trials left both gymnasts and lawmakers irritated.
“Because?” Maroney asked bluntly, while criticizing the deputy prosecutor, Lisa Monaco, for refusing the request to testify at Wednesday’s hearing.
“A message needs to be sent: if you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be quick and serious. That’s enough,” Biles said.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz later pointed out at the hearing that the false information an agent is accused of putting in a 2017 summary he wrote about his 2015 interview with Maroney could have put in danger the criminal case filed against Nassar. In addition, that agent and the other employee violated several FBI protocols, causing a delay in the probe for months, during which Nassar mistreated about 70 athletes, according to the report.
Lawmakers criticized the Justice Department both for its refusal to prosecute these people and for the way it had rejected their request for senior department officials to testify about the decision.
“The American people and these victims of sexual assault are wondering if they really take their claims seriously, if there is simply a complaint from the Justice Department to prosecute them and there is no real will to come and explain the reasons. why or why there isn’t a certain accountability where you can be held accountable, ”said Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas.
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Monaco are expected to appear before the committee in October.
Questions remain about the FBI’s welcoming relationship with US Gymnastics
The gymnasts emphasized the need for more researchNew Testamentor understand the relationship between the FBI’s failures and how its agents interacted with gymnastics organizations that overlooked Nassar’s abuse.
As reported in the IG report, FBI and USA Gymnastics agents discussed the organization’s response to media reports of the allegations. Abbott also proposed an FBI statement that would put U.S. Gymnastics in a positive light, according to the IG. And he argued with Penny, then the U.S. head of gymnastics, about the potential he could get a job on the U.S. Olympic Committee. Abbott also studied the possibility of being the head of USA Gymnastics, according to the report.
Nichols, a student on the U.S. World Championship team, whose allegations were filed with the FBI in 2015, referred to Abbott’s aspirations for U.S. gymnastics while marking questions that had not yet been answered. been answers about the FBI’s failures.
“Larry Nassar’s survivors have a right to know why they endangered their well-being by these people who chose not to do their job,” Nichols said.
Gymnasts failed at all levels of organizations that were supposed to protect them
What the gymnasts’ testimony made clear is that several people, both in sports and in federal law enforcement, were aware of the allegations against Nassar and yet did not act to stop him.
“It’s amazing and disturbing that so many adults let you down and fail in one of the most basic responsibilities of adulthood, which is caring for children,” said Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Biles recalled having been left in the dark entering the 2016 Olympics that there were investigations into the allegations. For a time, he was also unaware that Nichols had informed a top U.S. Gymnastics manager in 2015 that Biles was also a victim.
Maroney accused the FBI of working “in concert” with athletic organizations to “hide” that Nassar was a predator.
“By not taking immediate action on my report, they allowed a child abuser to be released for more than a year,” he said, “and this inaction allowed Nasser’s abuse to continue.”
Raisman said it was “horrible” to know the victims who could have been spared the abuse if they had acted correctly on their allegations.
“All we needed was an adult to do the right thing,” Raisman said.
Wray had a limited capacity before the Senate to contain the damage
Faced with calls for individual agents to be prosecuted, Wray had to repeatedly tell lawmakers that it was not his call, but that of the Justice Department.
“I’ve done what I can do,” he said.
Wray was not the director of the FBI when the deficiencies occurred, and he said he was “angry and furious” once he learned the extent of the agency’s failures.
However, his testimony described the actions of the individuals as “unacceptable” while claiming that they did not reflect the agency in general.
“I want to make sure that the public knows that the reprehensible behavior reflected in this report is not representative of the work I see of our 37,000 users every day. The actions of the agents described in this report are a discredit to all those men and women who they do the job the right way, ”Wray said.
While he described several policy changes, such as the new training requirements, that the FBI had made to avoid similar slips, lawmakers expressed skepticism that would suffice.
“Don’t change your heart and mind because someone is going through this kind of training,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc and Evan Perez contributed to this report.