Biles, with fellow gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Maggie Nichols, testified about the FBI’s failings in investigating Larry Nassar.
You have to watch the whole thing. On Sept.15, Olympian Simone Biles, along with three other prominent gymnasts, testified in a Senate hearing about the FBI’s handling of sexual abuse allegations against former U.S. Gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar. Each athlete gave poignant statements — and Simone Biles’ testimony about the FBI and Larry Nassar did not pull any punches. Content warning: some of the following videos contain discussions of sexual abuse, and may be upsetting to watch. In July 2021, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a damning report about how the FBI had mishandled the investigation into Nassar, who was convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse in December 2017 and sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. The report found, among other things, that FBI officials in Indianapolis had “failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond to them, and violated multiple FBI policies.” The report highlighted that officials had failed to seriously investigate allegations against Nassar, failed to inform other relevant authorities, and failed to take accountability for their mistakes. It also found that while the FBI failed to act, “Nassar’s sexual assaults continued.” As of 2021, at least 265 athletes have come forward with sexual abuse allegations against Nassar. In light of the report, Biles, along with Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Maggie Nichols, all testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept.15. In her testimony, Biles expressed her anger with how she felt Nassar’s case was mishandled. “In reviewing the OIG’s report, it truly feels like the FBI turned a blind eye to us and went out of its way to help protect USAG [USA Gymnastics] and USOPC [US Olympic and Paralympic Committee],” Biles said.
