MSU and Michigan AG's office decide on timeline for release of Nassar docs
EAST LANSING — Michigan State University officials announced Friday they'll start releasing later this month thousands of documents they withheld for years related to the investigation of serial predator Larry Nassar.
Interim President Teresa Woodruff shared the timeline during Friday's board of trustees meeting, and MSU Vice President of Communications Emily Guerrant confirmed that the timeline was decided during a Jan. 24 meeting between representatives from the MSU General Counsel and Michigan Attorney General's offices.
It hasn't been clear what exactly is going to be released, and redactions are expected. But the state attorney general lawyers will receive documents they've been pursuing since around the start of 2018, when Nassar received an effective life sentence.
Valerie Von Frank, mother of one of the survivors of Nassar and founder of Parents Of Sister Survivors Engage, POSSE, said at Friday's meeting that the Sister Survivors had not been told that the university would be announcing the timeline of the documents' release. POSSE has been calling for more transparency regarding the Nassar investigation.
A search warrant was issued in 2018 by then-Attorney General Bill Schuette for "all email, text messages, instant messages and documents identified as privileged," in addition to "all files prepared and maintained by (former acting general counsel) Kristine Zayko related to meetings with MSU staff about matters within the scope of this investigation."
This warrant was challenged by the university, citing attorney-client privilege. While the board could have waived that privilege at any time, it refused repeatedly to do so and did not turn them over the state attorney general's office.
On Dec. 15, MSU's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to release the long-withheld documents to Attorney General Dana Nessel's office. Those documents would first be reviewed by MSU General Counsel Brian Quinn and will be redacted to protect personal privacy and other information deemed unrelated to the investigation.
Specifically, the board authorized the “conduct and oversee the examination of documents identified in the privilege log created in the Attorney General’s investigation and release such documents to the Attorney General."
These documents would be "subject to any appropriate redactions of information necessary to comply with and protect individuals’ interests under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), other applicable privacy statues, and any applicable protective orders entered by federal and state courts or third-party confidentiality agreements, if any; and to protect attorney-client privileged communications concerning matters unrelated to Larry Nassar…”
Board Chair Rema Vassar said at the Dec. 15 board meeting that the end of litigation with insurance companies, combined with the confirmation of incoming university president Kevin Guskiewicz were reasons that the board finally decided to release the documents to the AG's office.
"This was an opportunity for us to do the right thing and move on to the next chapter of our healing at MSU," Vassar said in December.
Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com. Reporter Matt Mencarini contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU and Michigan AG's office decide on timeline for release of Nassar docs
