The Department of Justice is reviewing a decision not to charge FBI agents for alleged misconduct during the investigation into former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
“I can inform the committee today that the recently-confirmed assistant attorney general for the criminal division is currently reviewing this matter, including new information that has come to light,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
BREAKING: Deputy AG Lisa Monaco tells the Judiciary Committee that newly confirmed Assistant AG for the Criminal Division, Kenneth Polite, Jr, has opened a review of DOJ's earlier decision to decline prosecution of the agents who committed misconduct in the Larry Nassar case.
— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) October 5, 2021
Monaco also took the time to apologize to Nassar’s victims for how the agency handled the case.
“I also want to thank this committee for its work and that of the inspector general in bringing to light a system that inexcusably failed them and the scores of other survivors. As the deputy attorney general, as a lawyer, as a former FBI official, and as a woman, I was outraged by the inspector general’s findings,” Monaco said.
She continued, “I am deeply sorry that in this case the victims did not receive the response or the protection that they deserved.”
Watch her comments below:
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco apologizes to Dr. Larry Nasser's sexual violence victims for the FBI's handling of the case: "I am deeply sorry that in this case the victims did not receive the response or the protection that they deserved." pic.twitter.com/XJM2mHfch7
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 5, 2021
FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke out about the agency’s mishandling of the investigation last month, as IJR reported.
“I want to be crystal clear, the actions and inaction of the FBI employees detailed in this report are totally unacceptable,” Wray said.
He continued, “These individuals betrayed the core duty that they have of protecting people. They failed to protect young women and girls from abuse and the work we do certainly is often complicated and uncertain…but the kinds of fundamental errors that were made in this case in 2015 and ‘16 should never have happened.”
Apologizing to the victims, Wray said, “I am deeply and profoundly sorry to each and every one of you.”
During her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles blamed Nassar as well as “an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse.”
The inspector general released a report in July, declaring the FBI made “fundamental errors” in its investigation into Nassar.
In January of 2018, Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years behind bars after being accused by more than 150 women and girls of sexual abuse.