A slew of elite gymnasts will testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as U.S. lawmakers attempt to unravel how the Federal Bureau of Investigation so badly mishandled years of abuse cases against former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar.

What You Need To Know

  • Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols and McKayla Maroney are scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill this Wednesday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee

  • The hearing comes in the wake of a report by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that found senior officials in the FBI made “fundamental errors” when investigating allegations of sexual abuse against Larry Nassar

  • Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics physician, was found to have sexually assaulted hundreds of victims and had thousands of images of child pornography in his possession

  • According to the DOJ report, USA Gymnastics contacted the FBI about allegations against Nassar as early as July 2015, but it took months before the agency opened a formal investigation

Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols and McKayla Maroney are scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill alongside Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Monday. 

Biles competed in the 2016 and 2021 Olympics; Raisman competed in the 2012 and 2016 games, while Maroney competed in the 2012 Olympics. Nichols was a favorite for the 2016 Summer Olympics before she was sidelined with a knee injury.

“The FBI's dereliction of duty in the Larry Nassar case enabled the continued abuse of dozens of victims,” the committee announced in an earlier tweet. “This Committee has the responsibility of oversight of the Bureau—and our Wednesday hearing will examine this injustice with the goal of preventing future, similar tragedies.”

Wednesday’s hearing comes in the wake of a recent report by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that found senior officials in the FBI made “fundamental errors” when they investigated allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar.

“We also found that the FBI Indianapolis Field Office made fundamental errors when it did respond to the allegations, failed to notify the appropriate FBI field office (the Lansing Resident Agency) or state or local authorities of the allegations, and failed to take other steps to mitigate the ongoing threat posed by Nassar,” the report, which was published in mid-July, read in part. 

Nassar, a physician who was renowned for treating athletes at the sport’s highest levels, was found to have sexually assaulted hundreds of victims and had thousands of images of child pornography in his possession. Nassar was ultimately charged in 2016 with federal child pornography offenses and sexual abuse charges in Michigan.

In 2017, Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison; he was sentenced to serve an additional 40 to 125 years in a Michigan state court in 2018.

According to the DOJ report, USA Gymnastics contacted the FBI about allegations against Nassar as early as July 2015, but it took months before the agency opened a formal investigation.

Nichols, now 24, was in 2018 revealed as “Athlete A” — the first gymnast whose coach reported Nassar’s sexual abuse to USA Gymnastics in 2015. Nassar began abusing Nichols when she was 15, and while USA Gymnastics did hire a private investigator to look into the allegations, the organization did not contact the FBI regarding complaints until nearly five weeks later, when Raisman and Maroney confirmed the accusations, along with more of their own. 

Biles later revealed she was also victimized by Nassar in a lengthy and emotional statement released to social media in early 2018.

At least 40 girls and women said they were molested over a 14-month period while the FBI was aware of other sexual abuse allegations involving Nassar.

The OIG documents named FBI employees who “made false statements” to other members of law enforcement over the course of the investigation. 

Indianapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott violated FBI protocol numerous times, per the report, including by twice lying to the OIG about victim interviews, submitting reports with materially false information and repeatedly attempting to downplay the amount of errors made by his office during the investigation into Nassar. 

According to a since-deleted press release from the Indianapolis Field Office, Abbott retired from his position in January 2018. 

The inspector general interviewed an FBI supervisory special agent last September who said the original allegations reported by USA Gymnastics and then-President Stephen Penny were “very vague” and who questioned Penny’s credibility, describing him as “kind of a snake oil salesman kind of guy.”

That special agent also told investigators that the Indianapolis field office didn’t appear to have jurisdiction to investigate because the alleged crimes did not take place in Indiana. That agent and an FBI supervisor in the office said they told Penny to contact local law enforcement — a claim contradicted by Penny and the chairman of the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors.

The FBI said the supervisory special agent “violated multiple policies” and that the agency took immediate action when it learned that the agent did not properly document the sexual abuse complaints, had mishandled evidence and failed to report abuse.

The OIG report made a number of recommendations to the FBI on how to improve protocols for future investigations, which the FBI accepted in a response letter submitted Tuesday. The recommendations include clarifying and updating policies on communications with other FBI officers and local and state law enforcement agencies.  

The FBI also acknowledged the conduct was “inexcusable and a discredit” to America’s premier law enforcement agency.

“The FBI has taken affirmative steps to ensure and has confirmed that those responsible for the misconduct and breach of trust no longer work FBI matters,” the statement said. “We will take all necessary steps to ensure that the failures of the employees outlined in the Report do not happen again.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.