U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) on Wednesday provided opening remarks at the Senate Judiciary hearing on the Inspector General’s report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation failed to act on information it received regarding Larry Nassar’s abuse of athletes. The hearing included testimony from Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, and McKayla Maroney, and FBI Director Christopher Wray and Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
“One question that stuck with me since the very beginning of our investigation was, ‘Why was there more than one?’” said Sen. Moran. “During the course of our investigation, we uncovered evidence that the FBI received credible information of the dangers Nassar posed to athletes, yet did not appear to take additional actions.
“I remain committed to working with this committee, the Judiciary Committee, my colleagues in the Senate and the survivors here today to protect and empower all athletes. As the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Department of Justice, I will work to be certain the FBI agents are held accountable for their actions. Our goals should remain the same – to hold those accountable for these crimes and to make certain future generations can train, compete and succeed without fear of abuse.”
Sen. Moran and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced S. 2330, the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act, in July of 2019 following an eighteen-month investigation into systemic abuse within the U.S. Olympic movement. The joint investigation was launched the day after Larry Nassar was sentenced to prison and included four subcommittee hearings, interviews with Olympic athletes and survivors, and the retrieval and review of over 70,000 pages of documents. This legislation was signed into law on October 31, 2020.
Earlier this year, following a personal briefing by Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Sens. Moran and Blumenthal released a joint statement on the report detailing the FBI’s failure, saying “We are appalled by the FBI’s gross mishandling of the specific warnings its agents received about Larry Nassar’s horrific abuse years before he was finally arrested.”
In 2018, as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, Sen. Moran questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray on if the FBI received reports of sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics. In 2019, Sen. Moran secured FBI Director Christopher Wray’s commitment in an Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that the agency would prioritize and take the Inspector General recommendation seriously.
