Former USA Gymnastics chief avoids Senate questions

WASHINGTON — The former president of USA Gymnastics faced questions from senators Tuesday about his role in the sex abuse scandal that plagued his organization, but they were ones Steve Penny did not answer, repeatedly invoking constitutional protections against self-incrimination before being excused from the witness table by Sen. Jerry Moran.

The Kansas Republican is chairman of the consumer protection subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee that has been investigating the inability of Olympic and amateur sports organizations to protect young athletes from abuse.

Before Penny was allowed to leave, ranking member Richard Blumenthal had a stern warning for Penny and the gymnastics organization at large about the handling of gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar and abuse allegations against him.

“I respect your right to invoke your Fifth Amendment privilege. You have that right, but you also have a responsibility,” Blumenthal said. “You were part of an organization that in effect prioritized medals and money over the young women and girls, some of them here today, who were sexually abused by Mr. Nassar.”

Among the queries from Blumenthal and Moran that Penny did not respond to on the advice of his legal counsel was one about his potential role in a “code of silence” dating back to at least 2014 that tried to keep young athletes from reporting cases of abuse.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire offered statements at the start of the hearing. The two senators have been pushing for the Senate to establish a special committee to investigate gymnastics and other entities associated with the United States Olympic Committee.

“It is clear that USOC is not fulfilling its core mission to support and protect our Olympic athletes and I believe Congress should consider revoking or rewriting USOC’s charter to include more oversight,” said Shaheen. “The new charter should state clearly that any future scandals will result in USOC losing its charter and its tax-exempt status.”

Ernst was similarly critical of the USOC, the gymnastics organization, as well as academic institutions involved.

“This breaks my heart and angers me as these men and women and oftentimes children carry this burden for so many years, with no help from those they trusted,” Ernst said. “Even more maddening is that these organizations rake in millions of dollars a year and enjoy tax-exempt status.”