Biles blasts USA Gymnastics, FBI for allowing sex abuse to continue

WASHINGTON, September 15

Olympics gymnast Simone Biles blasted USA Gymnastics and the FBI in blunt, tearful testimony today for standing by while Larry Nassar abused her and hundreds of other athletes.

“We have been failed and we deserve answers,” Biles told the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she appeared with three other athletes, including Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols. “It really feels like the FBI turned a blind eye to us,” she said.

The hearing comes after the Justice Department’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz in July issued a scathing report in a series of errors that allowed the abuse to continue for months.

Horowitz will also testify on Wednesday as will FBI Director Chris Wray, who is expected to face sharp bipartisan questioning about why the agents who botched the probe were never prosecuted for their misconduct.

“It is not only that the FBI failed to do its job, systematically and repeatedly. It is also the cover-up – the cover-up that occurred when FBI agents made materially false statements and deceptive omissions,” Senator Richard Blumenthal said, adding that the Justice Department has declined to prosecute the agents. “My hope is that the Department of Justice, which was invited today and has declined to appear, will match your courage by explaining why those lies by FBI agents did not lead to criminal prosecution.”

The FBI’s investigation into Nassar started in July 2015, after USA Gymnastics president and CEO Stephen Penny reported the allegations to the FBI’s Indianapolis field office and provided agents with the names of three victims willing to be interviewed. — Reuters