China News Service, July 15th. According to a report by the US Overseas Chinese News Network, the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Justice stated on the 14th that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) committed a “fundamental crime” when investigating the sexual assault of former gymnastics doctor Nassar "It was wrong, and the case was not handled "seriously".
According to reports, the FBI admitted that this error was "unforgivable" and was a "shame" to the agency.
This highly anticipated monitoring report raises disturbing questions about the way the US Department of Justice and the FBI handled the case, and highlights the major faults committed by the FBI from the time Naxal was first charged to his arrest.
The inspector general launched an investigation into this incident because of allegations that the FBI failed to handle the 2015 complaint against Naxal in a timely manner.
After the American Gymnastics Association conducted an internal investigation, Penney, then chairman of the Gymnastics Association, reported the allegations to the FBI office in Indianapolis.
But the FBI only officially started the investigation a few months later.
At least 40 women said they had been sexually harassed for 14 months, and the FBI also learned of other allegations of sexual assault involving Naxal.
Officials from the American Gymnastics Association also contacted FBI officials in Los Angeles in May 2016, after FBI officials in Indianapolis had done nothing for eight months.
The Office of the Inspector General found that “despite the very serious nature of the allegations against Naxal,” the FBI officials in Indianapolis were not serious about this.
The report pointed out that when they responded, they made "numerous and fundamental mistakes" and violated the agency's policy.
For example, after meeting with the Gymnastics Association, it took more than a month for the FBI to investigate.
Moreover, the investigators only interviewed one of the three athletes involved in the case at the time by telephone, but never talked to the other two.
The surveillance investigation also found that when the FBI's Indianapolis office was under review for its handling of the case, the officials who made the mistake did not bear any responsibility and provided incomplete and inaccurate information in the FBI's internal investigation.
The FBI condemned employees who did not act in time, saying this situation "should not happen."
The FBI said in a statement: “The FBI has taken active measures to ensure and confirm that those responsible for making mistakes will no longer participate in the work of the FBI. We will take all necessary measures to ensure that similar mistakes do not occur again.”
In September 2020, the inspector general interviewed an FBI surveillance special agent. He stated that the allegations initially reported by Penney and the Gymnastics Association were "very vague" and questioned Penney's credibility.
The agent also told investigators that the FBI's Indianapolis office did not appear to have the authority to conduct investigations because the alleged crime did not occur in Indiana.
The agent and an FBI director in Indianapolis said they had told Penney to contact the law enforcement agency where the crime occurred.
However, their statement contradicts the statement made by Penny and the chairman of the board of directors of the Gymnastics Association.
The FBI said the special agent "violated a number of policies."
The investigation report also pointed out that when the FBI was investigating the allegations against Nassar, Abbott, the head of the FBI's Indianapolis office at the time, discussed with Penney about finding a job at the Olympic Committee.
According to the report, Abbott applied for the job, but was unsuccessful, after which he retired from the FBI.
The Office of the Inspector General said they reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed more than 60 witnesses, including several victims, their parents, prosecutors and former FBI employees.
The FBI's performance in this case was strongly condemned by members of Congress.
The victims of the Naxal case also strongly criticized the FBI's poor performance in this case.
On the same day that the report was released, the US Olympic gymnastics team flew to Tokyo to participate in the Olympics, including Byers, one of the victims of the Nassar case and the former Olympic champion.