DOJ Inspector General found 'serious errors, violations of FBI policy, and misconduct by FBI officials' in Larry Nassar investigation

We can count on the FBI to investigate garage door pull-ties and confiscate LEGO sets in its quest for justice, but a new report issued by the Department of Justice Inspector General found that the FBI botched the Larry Nassar sex abuse investigation in several ways, with agents lying to cover up their misdeeds.

NEW: we just released our Investigation and Review of the FBI’s Handling of Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Former USA Gymnastics Physician Nassar.

We found serious errors, violations of FBI policy, and misconduct by FBI officials.

Read the report: https://t.co/9CywwBWjSk pic.twitter.com/kbUxL2dEzy

— DOJ Inspector General (@JusticeOIG) July 14, 2021

The FBI disregarded Olympic gymnasts' complaints of sexual assault by doctor Larry Nassar and made false statements to cover mistakes, Justice Department investigators said https://t.co/bkoFC7AVdN

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 14, 2021

The IG notes this chilling detail: in the time between the FBI first being told of the allegations and his later arrest by local police, "70 or more young athletes were allegedly sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment", per court claims

— Devlin Barrett (@DevlinBarrett) July 14, 2021

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The report also details multiple false statements to internal FBI investigators by Indianapolis agents, including the special agent in charge of the office, Jay Abbott, and a supervisory special agent who is not named, dating to the earliest days of the gymnasts’ complaints. The supervisory special agent’s February 2017 write-up of his telephone interview with [gymnast McKayla] Maroney contained materially false statements and omissions, and the agent also made materially false statements when questioned later about the interview.

Abbott, too, “made materially false statements during his OIG interviews to minimize errors made by the Indianapolis Field Office in connection with the handling of the Nassar allegations,” according to the inspector general’s report.

He also showed “extremely poor judgment and violated FBI policy” by communicating with Steve Penny, the then-head of USA Gymnastics, about a potential vacancy at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee while the two continued to discuss the Nassar allegations. Abbott then applied for the job, and later twice told internal investigators he had not.