08/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/29/2024 13:09
Durbin announces full committee oversight hearing later this year in response to this report, which was requested by Durbin and a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a damning report on its audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) compliance with policies in child sexual abuse investigations. The DOJ OIG audit was conducted in response to a request from Durbin and a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members in 2021.
"The FBI's failures enabling Larry Nassar's abuse of young victims continue to remain a stain on the Bureau. Today's report shows that new policies implemented by the FBI to address these egregious failures are effectively being ignored, leading to similar abuses as seen in the Nassar investigation. It's shameful that the FBI is continuing to fail victims.
"The FBI must answer for the Inspector General's grave findings. In 2021, Director Wray testified to the Committee that what happened with Nassar was 'inexcusable… and we're doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens again.' But it is still happening. That's why I'm announcing an oversight hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the FBI's mishandling of child sexual abuse, to be held later this year. In the meantime, I urge prompt adoption of all the Inspector General's recommendations."
Among other items, the DOJ OIG reports that:
In 2021, Durbin held a Judiciary Committee hearing on the FBI's dereliction of duty in the Larry Nassar abuse case, with questioning of and testimony from Olympic and world champion gymnasts, FBI Director Wray, and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Shortly after this hearing, DOJ announced an internal review of its earlier decision to decline prosecution of the FBI agents who committed misconduct in the Nassar case. DOJ later again declined to bring charges.
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