Schuette: Special prosecutor, Michigan State Police will lead investigation into Michigan State

LANSING - One day after Michigan State University's Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of its president, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Saturday said an independent investigation by his office would get to the bottom of “whatever the heck happened” at MSU.

Schuette's announcement of a special independent prosecutor comes months after calls began for his office to investigate MSU. Those calls have come from lawmakers as well as victims of Larry Nassar, a former MSU doctor who has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing young women and girls under the guise of medical treatment.

Schuette said the 156 women and girls who gave victim impact statements in Ingham County Circuit Court last week as Nassar was sentenced on seven sexual assault charges prompted his office to move up announcing the team investigating MSU ahead of the conclusion of the criminal case. Nassar will be sentenced on three sexual assault charges in Eaton County beginning Wednesday.

“It is abundantly clear that a full and complete investigation of what happened at Michigan State University, from the president’s office down, is required," Schuette said. 

RELATED:

MSU hid full conclusions of 2014 Nassar report from victim

These 9 Michigan State employees could be questioned in Nassar inquiries

2014 police report sheds light on how Nassar avoided criminal charges

Schuette is a running as a Republican in this year's Michigan gubernatorial race. 

William Forsyth, a retired Kent County prosecutor, was tapped by Schuette to serve as the investigation's independent special prosecutor. Forsyth spoke about the need to follow all avenues of inquiry during an investigation, even unexpected ones. 

“Quite frankly, I think that’s in part what’s gotten Michigan State in some trouble here in the sense that they withheld certain information, maybe because it was going to put them in a better light, but you simply can’t do that," he said.  

Schuette said that his office's review of MSU has been going on for some time. Friday was the first time he confirmed the investigation. He also announced that the Michigan State Police will provide assistance with any criminal issues that arise as part of the investigation, he said.

“My department and this investigation will find out who knew what and when, who took action, who failed to take action, what did or did not happen and what should have happened,” he said.

During the 20-minute press conference, Schuette spent much of the time outlining how his office prosecuted Nassar. The process began, according to Schuette, in October of 2016 when Michigan State University Police Chief Jim Dunlap asked for assistance determining which charges to request against Nassar. The university police department led the criminal investigation that resulted in state charges against Nassar.

Schuette in February of 2017 deferred questions about possible criminal charges for other MSU employees who may have known about Nassar's sexual assaults to Patrick Fitzgerald, an attorney MSU hired to conduct its own review.

At the time, Schuette said, "Our job is reviewing the criminal actions of Larry Nassar, period." 

MSU said at the time the purpose of Fitzgerald's review was not to determine criminal charges.

Schuette spent several minutes Saturday praising the women who gave statements as part of Nassar's sentencing in Ingham County Circuit Court earlier this month.

“The voice of all these young women have changed Michigan, our state, and changed MSU forever," he said.

Schuette offered few details on how his investigation of MSU will proceed, and did not take questions from reporters. He said his office will send a letter to Fitzgerald seeking all information gathered as part of the review he conducted for the university. 

He said the university's response "to this simple request will speak volumes."

In early December, Schuette asked MSU to provide the findings of the internal review conducted by Fitzgerald, a former federal prosecutor. Fitzgerald said he could not provide Schuette's office with any investigative report because he said none existed. 

Fitzgerald told Schuette no one at the university was aware of Nassar’s crimes until news articles published in 2016. 

The Lansing State Journal on Friday reported that an MSU report on a 2014 Title IX investigation into a sexual assault allegation against Nassar concluded the former doctor’s conduct could open the university to lawsuits and expose patients to “unnecessary trauma based on the possibility of perceived inappropriate sexual misconduct.” That investigation exonerated Nassar, and the version of the report including that language was not given to the victim in the case, Amanda Thomashow.

RELATED:

At MSU: Assault, harassmentand secrecy

Larry Nassar and a career filled with ‘silenced’ voices

MSU let Larry Nassar see patients for 16 months during criminalsex assaultinvestigation

He also said the result of his office's investigation will be a report that will be transparent and made available to the public.

He briefly touched on the requests by MSU's Board of Trustees a week ago for an investigation by his office. 

"I don't need advice from the Board of Trustees at MSU about how to conduct an investigation," Schuette said. "Frankly, they should be the last ones to be providing advice, given their conduct throughout this entire episode."

Schuette added that the board's conduct in response to Nassar, "Speaks for itself."

MSU President Lou Anna Simon resigned Wednesday, and Athletic Director Mark Hollis retired on Friday. Also on Friday the MSU Board of Trustees accepted Simon's resignation and appointed board secretary and university Vice-President Bill Beekman to handle day to day operations while a search is conducted for an interim president.

Earlier this week, MSU learned via a letter from the NCAA that its athletic department is under investigation for potential rule violations in connection with Nassar. Lawmakers are also demanding records related to MSU's investigations of Nassar between 2014 and 2017 be handed over in the next two weeks. 

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.