By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


8th District Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin says she is “disturbed” by a recent report on the FBI’s handling of the Larry Nassar scandal.

A Justice Department's inspector general report released Wednesday concluded that the FBI made significant errors in investigating sexual abuse allegations against Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics national team doctor. The report also determined that the agency didn’t treat the case with the “utmost seriousness."

In response, Slotkin issued a statement that as the Representative for Michigan State University, some of the most impactful conversations she has had in the 8th District district have been with the survivors of Nassar’s sexual abuse. “These young women have shown extraordinary courage and poise beyond their years, and their activism continues to inspire me every day.”

But she said that the report from the DOJ’s Inspector General, “makes clear that they were completely failed by federal law enforcement. I’m so disturbed by the findings in this report. The FBI’s own Inspector General found that the FBI not only failed to act quickly to investigate allegations against Nassar, but showed “extremely poor judgment” and violated FBI policies even when they did begin an investigation.

Slotkin called the failure “unacceptable” and said she will be requesting a private briefing to understand how the failures were able to occur and, more importantly, the steps the Bureau is preparing to take to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again. The FBI itself acknowledged its conduct was “inexcusable and a discredit."

The long-awaited watchdog report highlights missteps at the FBI between the time the allegations were first reported and Nassar’s arrest. USA Gymnastics contacted the FBI about the allegations in July 2015. It took months before the agency opened a formal investigation.