Michigan AG closes investigation into MSU, says school had "no justifiable reason" to withhold Nassar documents
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday that her office has closed its investigation into Michigan State University following the sexual abuse scandal of former university employee and convicted sexual abuser Larry Nassar.
"This is a disappointing close to our years-long investigation into the abuse that hundreds of young women were subjected to over the course of more than a decade," said Nessel. "While I appreciate that MSU eventually cooperated, the withheld documents provided victims with a sense of false hope, for no justifiable reason.
"Simply put, there remains no fulfilling answer to the question of how this abuse was able to be perpetuated on so many, for so long, without MSU, or anyone else, putting a stop to it."
In March, MSU began sending Nessel's office more than 6,000 documents from its investigation into the former USA Gymnastics physician. After years of holding onto several documents related to its investigation of Nassar and claiming attorney-client privilege, MSU's board of trustees voted to release the records to Nessel in December 2023.
According to Nessel, MSU had initially turned over more than 105,000 documents for her office to review but held back more than 6,000 documents. Those additional documents were released in March and April.
Nessel had initially concluded her investigation into MSU's handling of Nassar's case in 2021 when the school declined to release those documents. The university has long been criticized for its handling of the case.
Nessel said Wednesday that the documents that were turned over contained no new information about the university's handling of Nassar.
"MSU has repeatedly justified withholding the documents because they contained information that was allegedly protected by the attorney-client privilege," Nessel's report states. "Our review has revealed that this justification was not always appropriate. A significant number, if not a majority, of the documents did not appear to us to be covered by the privilege. Accordingly, there was no justifiable reason to withhold those documents for any period of time, let alone an extended period. Further, the documents that contained, or at least arguably contained, privileged information did not offer any new insight into MSU's handling of Nassar's abuse or who knew what about it and when. Indeed, most of the privileged information was not even related to those issues, but instead to tangential issues such as public relations, insurance, and funding."
MSU has paid $500 million to settle lawsuits filed by some of Nassar's victims.
"Sadly, this epic document saga does not end with light shining on new answers or new investigative paths to follow, but rather with a fade to black and the keen recognition that MSU could have acted more responsibly to avoid further angst for the victims, its own University community, and the public at large," Nessel's report said.
In April, the Justice Department and more than 100 victims of Nassar's abuse reached a settlement over allegations that the FBI failed to investigate properly victims' claims of abuse by Nassar. The U.S. agreed to pay $138.7 million to settle the 139 claims against the FBI.
An investigation by an internal watchdog completed in August concluded that the FBI has continued to fall short in its handling of child sexual abuse investigations.
Olympians Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney are among the more than 100 women who have accused Nassar of sexual abuse.
Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in prison in December 2017 after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography and sentenced to another 40-175 years in January 2018 after he admitted to seven counts of sexual assault.
You can read a full copy of the Michigan Department of the Attorney General's report below.
Michigan Department of the Attorney General's report by CBS Detroit on Scribd