{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-new-oig-audit-of-fbi-littered-with-examples-of-no-action-and-delayed-action", "Grassley: New OIG Audit of FBI \u2018Littered with examples of no action and delayed action\u2019", "2024-09-09", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "IA", "Chuck Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", "grassley", "https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is demanding answers from the FBI on its failure to implement necessary changes to improve its practices regarding child sex offense cases. A recent Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit (\u201cthe 2024 Audit\u201d) spurred this latest oversight push, which builds on Grassley\u2019s longtime work to strengthen FBI investigations into child sex abuse reports.\n\n\u201cThe chasm between the FBI\u2019s promises and performance undermines trust, raises sincere doubts about the FBI\u2019s handling of child sex abuse cases, and makes it difficult to take the FBI\u2019s acceptance of recent OIG recommendations seriously,\u201d Grassley wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.\n\nAfter its botched investigation into former USA Gymnastics Doctor Larry Nassar, the FBI committed to making meaningful reforms. However, the DOJ OIG\u2019s 2024 Audit reveals the FBI:\n\nDid not issue promised policy guidelines directing employees to report child sex abuse to State, Local, Tribal and Territorial authorities, regardless of whether the allegation fell within FBI jurisdiction. These very vulnerabilities prevented local law enforcement in Michigan from swiftly bringing Nassar to justice.\n\nStill heavily relies on the outdated Sentinel system it used during the Nassar investigation, as opposed to the updated Guardian system that consolidates case data in a central location and pushes alerts for timely reviews.\n\nHas yet to act on 83 percent of the 42 cases the OIG flagged as requiring an immediate response, despite confirming it would.\n\nThese discrepancies have unacceptably enabled reported child sex abuse to go uninvestigated, in one instance for up to 21 months. Grassley is seeking accountability from the FBI, progress updates on the 42 cases the OIG escalated during the audit, and information on why the agency is opting to use outdated case tracking technology over a more secure \u2013 and available \u2013 alternative. He\u2019s also digging into FBI Headquarters' apparent refusal to address staffing shortages in field offices.\n\nDownload Grassley\u2019s full letter HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nAs Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Grassley was the first in history to convene a congressional hearing on athlete protections. He additionally spearheaded oversight of the U.S. Olympic Committee and, as ranking member, welcomed athletes who survived Nassar\u2019s abuse to share their stories before Congress.\n\nGrassley has since worked hard to help prevent other young athletes from suffering similar abuse. Several Grassley-led measures to hold abusers accountable became law in 2020. Congress enacted as part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act Grassley\u2019s bipartisan legislation to bolster federal sex tourism statutes that had been too weak to convict Nassar.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-new-oig-audit-of-fbi-littered-with-examples-of-no-action-and-delayed-action"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0500550270080566, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}