$1 Billion Claim Against the FBI for Dismissing, Ignoring Reports over Larry Nassar

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Gymnasts File $1 Billion in Claims Against FBI for Mishandling of Larry Nassar Investigation

The group includes dozens of women and girls assaulted while the agency ignored reports about the doctor—and the stars who raised the alarm

WSJ
WASHINGTON—More than 90 women and girls, including the star gymnasts who raised concerns about Larry Nassar in 2015 that were disregarded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, filed administrative tort claims against the agency on Wednesday collectively seeking $1 billion.

The claimants include Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman, the elite gymnasts who were first identified in the summer of 2015 as having been sexually abused by the then-doctor to the national women’s gymnastics team under the guise of medical treatment.

The group also includes dozens of Nassar patients sexually assaulted by him for more than a year after the FBI was alerted to the gymnasts’ concerns, their lawyers said.

The claims draw on a report released by the Justice Department’s inspector general last year that was sharply critical of the FBI. The report found that FBI agents in Indianapolis—who received an initial visit from USA Gymnastics to report Nassar on July 28, 2015—didn’t take the claims seriously, document the evidence they received or transfer the allegations to the FBI’s resident agency in Lansing, Mich. The report also found the agents later made false statements to cover their mistakes.

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