Reactions have been pouring in over the past several hours in response to the Freeh report released this morning.
Outside of Paterno’s family, those in the middle of Freeh’s crosshairs have remained expectantly quiet. Well, until now. Sort of.
Speaking on behalf of their client, the attorneys for former Penn State president Graham Spanier released a statement refuting that Spanier “concealed” anything from law enforcement officials.
There’s plenty of other puffery included in the statement because, well, we’re talking about lawyers, but a significant portion of the Freeh report is based on supposed concealment by Penn State admins. Spanier’s attorneys say that’s simply not true.“As a former Federal Judge and a former United States Attorney, we appreciate and respect the investigative efforts of the Freeh Group and the comprehensive report they have today provided the Board of Trustees of Penn State University.
Unfortunately, Judge Freeh’s conclusion, repeated often during his press conference this morning, that Dr. Spanier was engaged in a course of “active concealment,” is simply not supported by the facts or by the report itself.
Not only did Dr. Spanier never conceal anything from law enforcement authorities, but prior to 2011 he was never contacted by law enforcement officials, or any other officials, about any criminal activities now attributed to Sandusky. And as he told Judge Freeh himself last Friday and has steadfastly maintained, at no time in his 16 years as President of Penn State was Dr. Spanier told of any incident involving Jerry Sandusky that described child abuse, sexual misconduct, or criminality of any nature.
While we disagree with certain of Judge Freeh’s conclusions, Dr. Spanier joins with others in hoping that the University will never have to endure such a traumatic chapter again. This has been a painful episode in the history of a great university, and the thoughts and prayers of Dr. Spanier, and all of us, continue to be with the victims and their families.”You can read more reactions from around college football about the Freeh report HERE.