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Gymnasts Biles And Raisman Will Testify About The FBI's Handling Of Larry Nassar Case

A recent Department of Justice report criticized the FBI for its handling of abuse claims against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, pictured.
Jeff Kowalsky
/
AFP via Getty Images
A recent Department of Justice report criticized the FBI for its handling of abuse claims against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, pictured.

Four decorated gymnasts will testify at a U.S. Senate hearing this week regarding the FBI's shortcomings in investigating the Larry Nassar case, more than three years after the former USA Gymnastics doctor was sentenced for sexually abusing women and young girls under his care.

Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman, as well as former collegiate gymnast Maggie Nichols, will testify in the Senate Judiciary Committee's first panel on Wednesday morning.

The second panel will include remarks from FBI Director Christopher Wray and the inspector general of the Justice Department, Michael Horowitz, whose recent 119-page report detailing the "numerous and fundamental errors" of the FBI's handling of the Nassar case prompted the hearing.

The committee's goal is to determine why the FBI's Indianapolis Field Office responded inadequately and slowly to the first accusations of sexual misconduct against Nassar, the IG's report says, thereby enabling the abuse to continue during the delay.

In July, after the watchdog report was released, a bipartisan group of senators announced the oversight hearing into the FBI's handling of the case, sharply criticizing the agency for its failure to prevent the abuse.

"The FBI's gross mishandling of the reports of Nasser's abuse led to more athletes suffering unimaginable pain. There must be accountability for this chilling failure to properly investigate—and false statements potentially intended to cover-up that failure," Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said at the time.

In 2018, Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for his crimes.

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Alana Wise joined WAMU in September 2018 as the 2018-2020 Audion Reporting Fellow for Guns & America. Selected as one of 10 recipients nationwide of the Audion Reporting Fellowship, Alana works in the WAMU newsroom as part of a national reporting project and is spending two years focusing on the impact of guns in the Washington region.
Alana Wise
Alana Wise is a politics reporter on the Washington desk at NPR.