After the Larry Nassar debacle, the FBI’s still-rotten culture must be fixed

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a scathing report Thursday on the FBI’s handling of child sexual abuse cases, three years after a report documented a culture of decline at the bureau. In the current review, the IG looked at 327 cases and found that the FBI was slow to respond to reports of child sexual abuse, failed to follow up on leads and failed to advise other agencies. The report cited one case in which no investigative activity was recorded for more than a year, even though the subject abused another child. Some of the cases were so troubling that, halfway through their review, the IG team referred 42 of them to the FBI for immediate attention.

The previous IG report, issued on July 14, 2021, focused on the FBI’s mishandling of allegations against Dr. Lawrence Gerard Nassar, the physician for both U.S. Women’s Gymnastics and Michigan State University’s Gymnastics. He sexually abused hundreds of young women and girls. The truly heartbreaking aspect of that report was the Bureau’s lack of care or concern for the victims, which allowed Nassar’s rampage to continue.

The IG found that the FBI’s Indianapolis office failed to respond to the allegations, made fundamental errors when it finally did respond, failed to notify the appropriate field office (the FBI’s Lansing Michigan Resident Agency, located near the Michigan State University campus and Dr. Nassar’s residence), and failed to notify state and local authorities. After eight months of inaction by the Indianapolis office, the FBI’s Los Angeles office received similar information. The IG found that the Los Angeles office also failed to take action to notify the appropriate field office or state and local authorities.

The FBI’s Lansing Michigan Resident Agency only became aware of the allegations about Nassar when Michigan State University police responded. They had received similar complaints about Nassar, which led to a search of his residence, where they discovered child pornography.

At that point, more than a year had passed since the first complaints were filed with the FBI, and Nassar had continued to “treat” gymnasts at Michigan State University, a Michigan high school, and a Michigan gymnastics club. The Michigan investigation revealed that Nassar had sexually abused hundreds of victims and possessed thousands of items of child pornography. He was convicted in both federal and state courts and is currently serving a 60-year federal sentence — the legal maximum — for child pornography offenses. His two state sentences, each over 100 years, for child abuse must be served consecutively. A de facto life sentence.

In the IG’s assessment of the FBI’s handling of the Nassar case, the lack of attention or concern from the management of the Indianapolis office is astonishing. Crimes against children should be an FBI investigative priority. A decades-long undercover operation code-named “Innocence Images” focuses on crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Traveling interstate for sex with a minor is a federal crime, as any FBI agent should know.

The IG specifically cited the Sept. 2, 2015 FBI Indianapolis interview of a gymnast in which she recounted sexual abuse by Nassar. That interview wasn’t documented until February 2017. Violating the five-day rule: The results of an interview must be documented on Form FD-302 within five days. Thursday’s IG report also repeatedly cites examples of investigative activity that wasn’t documented in the files.

Both a Supervisory Special Agent, or SSA, and the Special Agent in Charge, or SAC, were cited for their “false statements” in the Nassar case. The IG reported that the summary of the victim interview, which the SSA prepared seventeen months after the interview, contained materially false statements and omitted material information. The IG also charged that the same SSA made clearly false statements to the IG team on two occasions when questioned. Additionally, the IG found that the SAC made materially false statements about the Indianapolis investigation during his interview with the IG team.

Perhaps most tragic of all was the IG’s claim that at least 70 other athletes had been victims of abuse in the time between the initial complaint to the FBI and Nassar’s arrest by state authorities. IG Horowitz concluded that “numerous FBI policies were violated” in the Nassar case. The policies are there; the problem is attitude and culture.

This highly critical IG report on the FBI’s handling of the Nassar case quickly led to media attention on the heartbreaking abuse the gymnasts had endured. Some victims spoke out publicly about what they had suffered. This in turn led to congressional hearings.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Wednesday, September 15, 2021. Gymnasts gave very emotional testimonies about the abuse they suffered at the hands of Nassar. The gymnast who first reported Nassar’s crimes to the FBI testified, “This behavior by these FBI agents … who are supposed to be protecting the public is unacceptable, disgusting and disgraceful.” FBI Director Christopher A. Wray testified at the same hearing. The first blunder in the Nassar case had occurred under the troubled tenure of his predecessor, James Comey But it was now Wray’s mess to clean up. He testified that two of the offending agents were no longer with the FBI and that they were “not representative” of the Bureau’s work. He offered numerous variations on the “the bad apples are gone” theme in response to senators’ questions. But it became clear that what ailed the FBI could not be fixed by a few more firings. The culture itself had to change.

Thursday’s IG report — three years after the first Nassar report — suggests nothing has changed. A new administration will likely appoint a new director. A necessary change. But one person can’t do everything. Many former agents and other honest people are willing to help the new director repair the FBI’s culture.