US Gymnasts condemn FBI & U.S. Olympic Committee at Congressional hearing
Photo: Saul Loeb/Pool via AP
September 17, 2021
During a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 15, elite American gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols bravely addressed Congress to continue to speak out about the gross mishandling and lack of transparency in the sexual assault investigation against former US Women’s National Gymnastics Team doctor, Larry Nassar.
The emotional hearing was part of a congressional effort to hold the FBI accountable after multiple missteps in investigating the case, including delays that allowed the now-imprisoned sex offender to abuse other young gymnasts. All four witnesses said they knew girls or women who were molested by Nassar after the FBI had been made aware of allegations against him in 2015.
Wednesday's hearing comes after the Justice Department's Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued a scathing report in July which blasted the FBI for botching its investigation in a series of errors that allowed the abuse to continue for months. When given a credible complaint via USA Gymnastics about Nassar molesting gymnasts, the FBI’s Indianapolis field office did almost no actual investigating and shared no information with other authorities, effectively giving Nassar nearly a year to continue assaulting girls. He abused at least 70 additional victims during that period.
In her forceful testimony, Biles held back tears as she told Congress that federal law enforcement and gymnastics officials turned a “blind eye” to Nassar’s sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women and that “enough is enough.” “I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse," she stated.
Biles and her fellow gymnasts spoke in stark emotional terms about the lasting toll Nassar’s crimes have taken on their lives and mental health. In response, the FBI acknowledged that its own conduct was inexcusable with FBI Director Christopher Wray stating he was “deeply and profoundly sorry” for delays in Nassar’s prosecution and the pain it caused.
Maroney, a member of the 2012 team, said the FBI “minimized and disregarded” her and the other gymnasts as they delayed the probe. “I think for so long all of us questioned, just because someone else wasn’t fully validating us, that we doubted what happened to us,” Maroney said. “And I think that makes the healing process take longer…"I am tired of waiting for people to do the right thing."
Speaking alongside senators after the hearing, Raisman called for more investigations of USA Gymnastics, Olympic officials and the FBI. The probes should be independent and go back decades, she said, because there might still be people in positions of power who should be held accountable.
Democratic and Republican senators expressed disgust over the case and said they would continue to investigate. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said it was among the most compelling and heartbreaking testimony he had ever heard.
Litigation over the abuse may soon be coming to an end after USA Gymnastics and hundreds of Nassar’s victims filed a joint $425 million settlement proposal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis last month.
Sources: AP, Reuters, Yahoo Sports & NPR