New Nassar report details USA Gymnastics chief’s cozy ties with IMPD, FBI officials
A blistering new report highlights a cozy relationship between USA Gymnastics and federal and local law enforcement officials in Indianapolis as child sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar remained hidden from the public.
The report, commissioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee, includes never-before-reported emails and text messages between former USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny and two particular law enforcement officials: Jay Abbott, the former agent in charge of the FBI's Indianapolis office, and Bruce Smith, then-supervisor of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's child abuse unit.
In one email, Abbott thanked Penny for meeting him over beer, and for telling him about an Olympic security job opportunity that Abbott described as "tantalizing." In a later email, Penny recommended Abbott for the job.
At IMPD, Penny and Smith regularly communicated throughout the summer of 2016, as IndyStar was preparing its first story questioning USA Gymnastics child abuse reporting policies — a story that did not include allegations against Nassar, but whose publication prompted Nassar victims to step forward.
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Penny reached out for assistance to "kill the story," according to the report. One text message read: “We need to body slam the other sources.”
The previously undisclosed communications took place as Nassar assaulted dozens of girls and women between July 2015, when law enforcement officials were informed of credible abuse allegations, and September 2016, when IndyStar made public Nassar's abuse, according to the report.
Abbott and Smith have come under scrutiny in a series of recent IndyStar articles, but the 233-page report compiled by the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray provides the most detailed account yet of the ways in which Penny cultivated relationships with the two men.
It offers not only a searing assessment of how Olympic executives handled the Nassar allegations, but also cites myriad failings of law enforcement officials across the country — and in Indianapolis in particular.
The report's revelations come as both the FBI and IMPD — as well as the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General — are conducting internal investigations related to law enforcement's handling of matters involving USA Gymnastics.
The FBI declined to comment. When asked about the Ropes & Gray report, IMPD spokeswoman Aliya Wishner issued the following statement: “To ensure Bruce Smith acted in accordance with policy, Chief (Bryan) Roach has directed the Internal Affairs Unit to investigate the case to specifically examine Lt. Smith’s involvement. That investigation is currently active and is not yet complete.”
Details included in the Ropes & Gray report also raise questions about whether IMPD may have mishandled public records when it failed to include certain communications in an earlier request made by IndyStar.
Beer and a potential job
IndyStar reported in October that Penny had told Abbott about a top security job in Olympic sports as the FBI's investigation into Nassar languished in 2015.
But emails disclosed in the Ropes & Gray report reveal Penny went far beyond a single casual mention of the opening. Abbott expressed enthusiastic interest in the position as chief security officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee. In an October 2015 email, Abbott thanked Penny for meeting him over beer a few weeks earlier.
"Though I realize there would be many qualified applicants, the position with the USOC is truly a tantalizing and interesting possible opportunity post-Bureau that I continue to think about," Abbott wrote.
The beer and conversation took place about a month after Abbott transferred the FBI's investigation into Nassar to the agency's Detroit office, where it would remain dormant for seven months with no explanation.
Before that, in the summer of 2015, Abbott raised no objections when Penny forwarded a proposed cover story to explain Nassar's absence from a major national championship. Nassar would not be attending, it said, for "personal reasons."
"As you can see below, we have a very squirmy Dr Nassar," Penny wrote to Abbott. "Our biggest concern is how we contain him from sending shockwaves through the community." Penny went on to say USA Gymnastics wanted to make sure its communications with Nassar were "consistent with FBI protocol."
Abbot responded: “(y)ou certainly are able to advise Dr. Nasser (sic) as you deem appropriate and we in no way want to hinder that or lead you to believe you must follow an ‘FBI protocol’ though the FBI will not confirm or deny any ongoing investigation OR assessment."
Nassar later announced he was stepping down as USA Gymnastics national team doctor, but portrayed the resignation as a routine retirement after an illustrious career. Neither USA Gymnastics nor the FBI made any effort to publicly correct the impression that Nassar's resignation had been completely voluntary and motivated solely by a selfless desire to make room for other colleagues.
"As a result," wrote Ropes & Gray investigators, "and notwithstanding that he was under active FBI investigation for multiple credible allegations of sexual abuse of minor athletes, Nassar was allowed, not merely to control the public narrative of his departure, but thereby to continue to have access to girls and young women."
As the public remained in the dark about the allegations against Nassar, Penny and Abbott continued to discuss the security job for more than a year. In the summer of 2016, Penny recommended Abbott for the job in an email to the outgoing Olympic security chief, Larry Buendorf.
"I wanted to let you know that I found a great guy who might be the perfect fit for your role when you decide to leave," Penny wrote. "His name is Jay Abbott and he is the senior agent in charge at the FBI office in Indianapolis. Let me know if you would like to speak with him."
In September 2016, IndyStar publicly exposed allegations about Nassar for the first time. The Nassar story came about a month after an IndyStar article that revealed USA Gymnastics executives repeatedly failed to forward allegations of sexual abuse at its member clubs to law enforcement authorities.
As the stories gained national attention, Penny turned to Abbott.
“Will call you shortly if that is okay," Penny wrote. "Am I in trouble?”
Abbott responded the same day: “No. …and no worries."
A few months later, in February 2017, Penny sent an email to Abbott about USA Gymnastics' reporting timeline. A day later Penny sent Abbott a publicly available job posting for the Olympic committee security position.
Abbott responded by acknowledging the job posting and wrote: “I’m also aware of your timeline reporting and will be happy to discuss further tomorrow morning.”
The emails between Penny and Abbott "do not afford a complete picture of the communications between Mr. Penny and Agent Abbott, a number of which appear to have taken place in person or over the telephone," according to the report.
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Still, the communications "reflect an effort on Mr. Penny’s behalf, drawing upon his relationship with and assistance to Agent Abbott, to encourage the FBI to support USAG and its proffered 'timeline of reporting' with regard to how USAG had responded to the Nassar allegations."
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday because the matter has been referred to the inspector general. She did not address a request to speak with Abbott, who retired from the FBI in January.
Penny's lawyer, Edith Matthai, characterized discussions about the security position as ordinary networking. Penny had "no control over who the USOC would ultimately hire," she wrote.
"There was nothing nefarious about telling Mr. Abbott about the potential position or telling Mr. Buendorf that Mr. Abbott would be a good candidate for the job when it opened," Matthai said.
As for the exchanges between Penny and Abbott about the reporting timeline, Matthai said Penny simply wanted the FBI to confirm the true timeline.
Penny eventually resigned from USA Gymnastics in March 2017 and was indicted last month on charges alleging he ordered the removal of documents from the USA Gymnastics National Team Training Center at Karolyi Ranch in Texas in an effort to impede an investigation in that state.
Penny has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
'Kill the story'
The Ropes & Gray findings also provide new insights into the relationship between Penny and Smith, former supervisor of the IMPD child abuse unit.
IndyStar reported last month that Smith — a friend of Penny's — sought to deflect criticism of USA Gymnastics in 2016 and 2017, even as a growing number of survivors claimed the national governing body failed to protect them from child sexual abuse.
That story, based largely on emails IndyStar obtained through a public records request, showed that Smith contacted IndyStar reporters before their first USA Gymnastics story appeared, telling them they were "barking up the wrong tree." He did not remember what prompted him to initiate that conversation, but insisted that he was not encouraged to do so by Penny.
In that initial communication, Smith also dismissed IndyStar's source as "disgruntled."
Smith later wrote a press release defending USA Gymnastics and assisted a Virginia lawyer USA Gymnastics had hired "to help combat some of the unfair and negative media that the organization has been getting." IMPD never sent out the release.
Smith did all of these things, he said, after he disclosed his friendship with Penny as a conflict of interest and recused himself from investigating USA Gymnastics' failure to act on a 2011 complaint against coach Marvin Sharp. Penny provided the 2011 complaint to Smith only after Sharp was arrested in 2015 based on another complaint that USA Gymnastics had received and provided to IMPD. Sharp later killed himself.
But newly revealed text messages between Penny and Smith show much closer coordination than was previously disclosed. The messages also raise concerns about transparency at IMPD, which did not turn over the text messages when IndyStar requested them.
Ropes & Gray investigators found that Penny and Smith regularly communicated throughout the summer of 2016 concerning USA Gymnastics.
Penny reached out to Smith for assistance to "kill the story," according to the report. The Ropes & Gray report was unclear on who was speaking but said one text message read: “We need to body slam the other sources.”
Another referred to IndyStar reporters and said, "it’s disgusting that someone would do this when USA Gymnastics is such a positive for a country which is frankly in real crisis.”
Ropes & Gray investigators said, taken as a whole, the text messages "reflect a seemingly single-minded focus on protecting USAG’s public reputation."
Matthai, Penny's attorney, said the communications were not given their full context in the report.
"The full reference was that the truth would kill the story," she said. Neither she nor Ropes & Gray would provide IndyStar with the actual communications.
Smith did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story.
Missing records
IndyStar requested messages between Smith and Penny from IMPD earlier this year, but did not receive the ones referenced in the Ropes & Gray report. In responding to IndyStar's request, IMPD said it could not provide text messages because Smith used a personal cell phone and had since replaced it with a new phone.
The failure to maintain those records — which Ropes investigators appear to have received from USA Gymnastics or Penny — raises questions about compliance with Indiana open records law.
Any record pertaining to government business that is created by a public official — even on a personal device — is considered a public record under state law. And Indiana requires government agencies to retain correspondences for three years.
But it does not appear that Smith or IMPD took steps to preserve his text messages.
Wishner, the IMPD spokeswoman,said IMPD does not maintain text messages from officers' personal cell phones.
"All City and County employees are encouraged to do City/County business only through their public accounts and not through their personal accounts," she said.
Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt said the content of the messages would determine whether a violation of law occurred. Transitory messages do not necessarily need to be retained, but more substantive discussions of government business do.
In this case, Smith appears to have actually taken a number of actions based on his exchanges with Penny. Those include drafting a press release and telling reporters they were "barking up the wrong tree."
It is unclear whether the new text messages will figure into an ongoing internal affairs investigation of Smith’s actions ordered by Police Chief Bryan Roach.
Smith, who has since been promoted and is now a homicide detective, has denied any wrongdoing.
Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or tony.cook@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter: @IndyStarTony.
Contact Tim Evans at 317-444-6204 or tim.evans@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter:@starwatchtim.
Call IndyStar reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski at 317-444-6135. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyMarisaK.
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