Case brief
From the first report to the FBI response
USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny reported allegations concerning physician Lawrence Nassar to FBI Indianapolis in July 2015. The inspector general found that the office conducted limited follow-up, spoke by phone with one of three available athletes in September, did not formally open or document an investigation, and failed to transfer the matter to FBI Lansing despite telling USA Gymnastics it had transferred it.
In May 2016 USA Gymnastics approached FBI Los Angeles. That office opened a federal investigation and interviewed several alleged victims, but the inspector general found it did not promptly notify state or local authorities or Lansing. Michigan State University police independently received a complaint in August 2016 and searched Nassar’s home in September. FBI Lansing first learned of the allegations in October 2016.
Accountability after the report
FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate in September 2021 that the bureau accepted the OIG recommendations and had begun corrective actions. This is the bureau’s stated response, separate from the inspector general’s findings. FBI testimony ↗
The inspector general also found that an Indianapolis supervisory agent made false statements in compelled interviews and that former Indianapolis special agent in charge W. Jay Abbott made false statements and violated conflict rules in connection with discussions about a possible US Olympic Committee job. The report says DOJ declined prosecution of these two former officials in September 2020. These are OIG findings, not convictions.
In April 2024, DOJ announced it had settled 139 administrative claims alleging inadequate FBI investigation for $138.7 million. A broader August 2024 OIG audit of the FBI’s handling of child sexual abuse tips followed up on issues raised by the Nassar report. It found policy and training updates alongside compliance failures in a later sample of other incidents; its figures do not measure this case.
Read the OIG investigation ↗ · Read the DOJ settlement release ↗ · Read the 2024 follow-up audit ↗