Simone Biles to testify before Senate about Larry Nassar
Gold medalist Simone Biles and other star gymnasts will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the investigation into Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of girls and women.
Biles, along with McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman, will appear on the first panel during a Sept. 15 hearing on the FBI's handling of the investigation into Nassar. The second panel will include Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The four gymnasts will appear in person, according to an aide to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
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In a 119-page report released in July, Horowitz said the FBI failed to, in a timely manner, interview victims who said that Nassar had molested them. The FBI's Indianapolis field office made "fundamental errors," Horowitz said, by failing to notify other FBI offices or state or local authorities.
Biles said in a Jan. 18 tweet that she was abused by Nassar.
"I am not afraid to tell my story anymore. I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar," Biles wrote.
In an interview with Today, Biles said the abuse was likely a factor in her mental health and performance at the 2020 Olympics, where she withdrew from several events, citing her mental health.
"Now that I think about it, maybe in the back of my head, probably, yes, because there are certain triggers," she told TODAY's Hoda Kotb in an interview. "You don't even know, and I think it could have."
Nassar, who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 10 minors in a Michigan court in January 2018, is serving up to 175 years in prison. He is expected to be behind bars for the rest of his life.