As I mentioned a few days ago, a federal criminal probe into allegations of sexual abuse by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is well underway. Apparently this has been lost in the recent stampede to help dump Rush Limbaugh, so I'm reposting my original writeup from yesterday--especially since based on a subpoena Penn State got early last month, the feds have detected the distinct odor of a cover-up by higher-ups in State College.
(F)ederal authorities seem to be stepping into areas where the state attorney general’s office hasn’t gone.
This time, they seem to be exploring the possibility of a cover-up at Penn State, as well as possible bribes, fraud, or misuse of federal money, according to three former federal prosecutors who were asked by The Patriot-News to independently review the subpoena Penn State received Feb. 2.
The subpoena asks for records of any payments members of the Penn State Board of Trustees made to third parties, any complaints, interviews or out-of-court settlements reached with Sandusky, computer hard drives, and correspondence between Penn State officials and the Second Mile. The three prosecutors that
The Patriot-News interviewed all agree--this is the very kind of stuff you look at if you suspect a cover-up.
The feds appear to be focusing on three things--whether hush money was paid to Sandusky's victims, whether federal money earmarked for educational and/or research purposes was instead funneled to the Second Mile and whether Penn State lied to any agency wanting to know more about what was going on.
While the feds have more than enough reason to tee up Sandusky for taking a boy across state lines at least twice, it looks like they're focused more on what Penn State officials did after the abuse came to light.
All these things requested in the subpoenas — emails, complaints, payments — all point to an investigation that might have little to do with the alleged victims, Levinson said.
“That looks much more like the back end — how did the university react to what Sandusky had (allegedly) done?” she said. “Not investigating what Sandusky had done. ... This more about the university and the Second Mile.”
In other words--the feds appear to be asking, "What did they know, when did they know about it, and what did they do when they knew about it?" If that's the case and I served on the Penn State board or administration when all of this was happening, I'd have a lawyer on speed dial.