WASHINGTON – Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney on Wednesday told American lawmakers she felt betrayed by FBI agents, after they failed to seriously investigate former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, despite her telling them he had sexually abused her.
Maroney was one of four athletes, along with Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, who testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee as it probes the FBI’s mishandling of the investigation.
Maroney recalled how six years ago she spent three hours on the phone telling the FBI the details of her story that her own mother had not even heard, including accounts of sexual abuse she endured during the Olympic games in London.
It was not until July of this year, however, that she said the Justice Department inspector general revealed in a scathing report what the FBI did with the information she provided – failing to document it for a year and a half and misrepresenting what she told them about her experiences.
“Not only did the FBI not report my abuse, but when they eventually documented my report 17 months later, they made entirely false claims about what I said,” Maroney said with anger in her voice.
Wednesday’s hearing comes after the Justice Department’s inspector general Michael Horowitz in July issued a scathing report, which blasted the FBI for botching its investigation 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.
(Reuters)
