Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said her office has officially closed its investigation of Michigan State University and the sexual abuse by Larry Nassar.
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Nessel and the AG's office announced the results of their investigation on Wednesday morning, about nine months after the university's board voted to release the final 6,014 documents that were previously withheld from the investigation.
Watch Nessel's full press conference in the video player below
According to the AG's office, attorneys have spent months going through the documents, but found no new or relevant information, which meant that her office is closing the investigation.
In the five-page report from the AG's office, they say that MSU had no justifiable reason to withhold the documents. Her office said a "significant number, if not a majority, of the documents" were not subject to attorney-client privilege, which was the reason MSU had given in the past for why it couldn't release the documents.
"There was no justifiable reason to withhold those documents for any period of time, let alone an extended period," Nessel said. "My understanding is that Lou Anna Simon (MSU's former president) said herself that she had been deleting communications, so what are we left with?"
VIDEO: Extended interview: ‘It’s an issue ... of the trajectory of the university.’ Rachael Denhollander on AG investigation into MSU, Nassar
The AG's office said that attorneys who were involved in the original 2018 investigation also were part of the investigation into the final 6,000 documents.
"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,” Nessel said in a statement. "While I appreciate that MSU eventually cooperated, the withheld documents provided victims with a sense of false hope, for no justifiable reason."
The university has been criticized for how it handled the Nassar investigation and its dealings with survivors in the aftermath of his arrest and conviction. The school has settled lawsuits filed by Nassar victims for $500 million.
"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," the report states.
You can read the entire report below:
AG's office final report into MSU/Nassar by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
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WATCH BELOW: Attorney General to resume Nassar investigation after MSU approves documents release
Nessel had asked the school to release the more than 6,000 documents to help shine a light on what the school knew about the abuse. She ended her investigation in 2021 of the school's handling of the Nassar case because the university refused to provide documents related to the scandal.
After Nassar was sentenced in 2018, the university asked the Michigan Department of Attorney General to launch an investigation to determine what university leaders knew about the abuse. In 2021, that investigation abruptly ended after the AG’s office said the university refused to turn over vital documents.
"The fact that we had to fight for six years to get just the bare minimum level of transparency is absolutely ridiculous," said Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of abuse.
"The basic tone I got from those that were resisting releasing the documents was that it was a precedent issue. If they set the precedent issue of transparency, if they set the precedent of turning over all relevant information, that was something that that might come back to haunt them if they had another problem."
Michigan State University Spokesperson Emily Guerrant released this statement after the AG's investigation:
"We respect the thorough efforts made by the Attorney General’s office in its extensive investigation, and we recognize the impact this has had on survivors, their families, and the MSU community.
Throughout the course of the investigation, MSU has fully complied with the attorney general’s office and has provided more than 100,000 documents related to facts surrounding the entirety of the case. The university maintains that our interpretation and application of the attorney-client privilege was appropriate, as determined by East Lansing District Court Judge Richard Ball in 2019.
Since 2016, the university has taken significant steps to improve campus safety and culture through robust prevention, support, and response efforts. We are working to become a more accountable organization each day, guided by an unwavering commitment to providing a safe campus and equitable environment for all. We echo the attorney general’s comments in acknowledging the role survivors have made in advocating for change and improvements surrounding assault and abuse in our state and globally."
