UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: Blackmun referred to U.S. Justice Dept.

Former USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun

Former USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun faces new legal issues as a follow-up to the release of the Ropes & Gray report last week about the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal at USA Gymnastics.

A Friday news release from U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) started:

“U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) – chairman and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security with jurisdiction over the health and safety of US Olympic and NCAA athletes – have referred former U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun for investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001 and 1505.”

In specific, Blackmun is alleged to have “materially false statements contained in his written testimony to the Subcommittee during the course of the Subcommittee’s investigation” in that “Blackmun’s own statements to the independent investigators appear to contradict his statement to the Subcommittee that he “spoke to the USOC’s safe sport staff after talking to [former USA Gymnastics chief executive Steve] Penny.”