Posted on 02/10/2013 7:10:13 AM PST by Uncle Chip
A report commissioned by Joe Paterno's family calls the July 2012 Freeh report that was accepted by Penn State trustees before unprecedented sanctions were levied by the NCAA against the school's football program a "total failure" that is "full of fallacies, unsupported personal opinions, false allegations and biased assertions."
The Paterno family report, which targets nearly every conclusion and assertion the Freeh report made about Paterno in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, states that while former FBI director Louis J. Freeh has had an honorable past and good reputation, his investigation -- especially as it relates to Paterno -- relied on "rank speculation," "innuendo" and "subjective opinions" when it concluded that Paterno concealed facts about Sandusky in part to avoid bad publicity.
Freeh was hired on Nov. 21, 2011 and paid $6.5 million by Penn State University trustees --
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The Paterno family immediately roundly and loudly rejected the report, and, four days after its release, instructed its lawyer to form a "group of experts" to conduct a comprehensive review of the facts and conclusions. The Paterno family asked its attorney's law firm, King and Spalding of Washington, D.C., to start "a comprehensive review of the report and Joe Paterno's conduct. They authorized us to engage the preeminent experts in their field and to obtain their independent analyses."
The law firm hired former U.S. attorney general Richard Thornburgh, former FBI supervisory special agent and former state prosecutor James Clemente, and Dr. Fred Berlin, a treating physician, psychiatrist, psychologist and expert in sexual disorders and pedophilia at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine. The family's report attacks Freeh's conclusions, assertions, methodology, investigative abilities and choices, disclosures and independence.
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(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Educate yourself.
Re: your comment above...Tell me what you think of this one comment made by this columnist back in Nov. 2011:
Penn State's Joe Paterno gets what he deserves
Columnist Ostler wrote: Several e-mailers demand, "Have you ever heard of due process?" The due process I've heard of involves a justice system and a legal trial. Paterno faces no legal action or charge. Legally, his rear end is covered. But there was no trial when Paterno was sainted, no jury declared him one of the noblest and finest college coaches of all time. The public decided. It's the same deal on the flip side...
Other graphs from that Ostler column: What is the over-under number on how many people have to know about a depraved predator working under their noses before one of them takes a step to stop the predator and protect the victims? Jay Bilas, the ESPN college basketball commentator, called it "a conspiracy of cowards." ... With responsibility comes responsibility... "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more," Paterno said in a statement. That's pathetic. You need hindsight to tell you that you must do whatever you can to stop a dangerous criminal?
The Declaration of Independence went down in Pennsylvania (and in Mumia’s Philadelphia, for that matter). So what!
Well, I have ("educated myself") on Penn State and its culture/funding...
Apparently, according to this source: Pennsylvania State University... Penn State perhaps is now in the "double digits" % wise of being funded by the state Commonwealth fund:
Per this source: Penn State is a "state-related" university, part of Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education. As such, although it receives funding from the Commonwealth and is connected to the state through its board of trustees, it is otherwise independent and not subject to the state's direct control. For the 2006–2007 fiscal year, the university received 9.7 percent of its budget from state appropriations, the lowest of the four state-related institutions in Pennsylvania.[35] Initial reports concerning the 2007–2008 fiscal year indicated that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is recommending a 1.6 percent increase in state appropriations.[36] Penn State's appropriation request, submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education in September, requested a 6.8 percent increase in funding ]
So Penn State, given that probably now over 10% of its budget comes from the state, is a "quasi" "state agency." And yet, this "quasi" "state agency" did NOTHING re: Sandusky....
So Penn State simply takes the state's $ -- but is otherwise "independent" eh??? [Kind of sounds like a bit of "taxation without representation" (without accountability)]
Perhaps the Commonwealth of PA would be wise to drop Penn State funding altogether, lest its reputation go down with the college!
The Joe Paterno statement.
With the benefit of hindsight, do you wish you had done more???
I wasn't at Penn State. Rest assured, had I been, I would have confronted Sandusky.
Why are you defending people who failed in their responsibilities not only as adults, but as trusted PSU authority figures?
Tempest in a cold cup of store brand teabag tea made two years ago.
That was a long time ago. Didn’t Obongo win that state’s electoral votes
Perhaps they should get there statue back so they’ll have something to pray to.
their* statue
Grammar is hard.
I already posted proof that Freeh tried to interview Paterno and Paterno refused. You posted a link to some blog that quotes no sources and lies about Freeh not trying to interview Curly, Shultz and Paterno.
Your sycophancy is for naught.
Paterno is a guy who let a child rapist get away with it to protect his legacy. Nothing you say or do will ever change that.
Didn't the jury find Sandusky guilty of indecent assault, unlawful contact with minors and endangering the welfare of a child in that "incident"?
Isn't that a fact that you continually ignore?
Page 53 of the Freeh Report indicates Paterno expressed a willingness to be interviewed but died before it could happen. This stands in direct contradiction to Freeh’s statement today.
The statements are not contradictory. They asked to interview Paterno, he said, (through his lawyer) he was willing to talk but not now.
Yet he had no problem interviewing with Sally Jenkins at that same time, also with a biographer.
Once again JoePa turned his back on Sandusky’s victims in order to try and protect his “legacy”.
“During the investigation, we contacted Mr. Paterno’s attorney in an attempt to interview Mr. Paterno. Although Mr. Paterno was willing to speak with a news reporter and his biographer at that time, he elected not to speak with us”
Louis Freeh, in his response to the Paterno Report
“The Special Investigative Counsel requested an interview with Paterno in December 2011. Through his counsel, Paterno expressed interest in participating but died before he could be interviewed.”
Freeh Report, page 53
“Mr. Paterno passed away before we had the opportunity to speak with him, although we did speak with some of his representatives. We believe that he was willing to speak with us and would have done so, but for his serious, deteriorating health.”
From the Freeh July 2012 press conference
(Interesting that the Joepologists somehow fail to mention this)
Spot on. Well done.
With regard to public opinion I agree. People are fickle and that's just the way it is. But I do draw a distinction between the statements of "the public" v those of people in positions of authority who should demonstrate more restraint.
You didn't post anything of the sort. To the contrary this is what Freeh said on page 53 of his report and a subsequent press conference:
“The Special Investigative Counsel requested an interview with Paterno in December 2011. Through his counsel, Paterno expressed interest in participating but died before he could be interviewed.” Freeh Report, page 53
“Mr. Paterno passed away before we had the opportunity to speak with him, although we did speak with some of his representatives. We believe that he was willing to speak with us and would have done so, but for his serious, deteriorating health.” From the Freeh July 2012 press conference
If you are going to lie you have to remember what you said ------
And yet that isn't what Freeh put in his report nor is it what he stated in his presser. He said they weren't able to interview Paterno prior to his death although he expressed willingness. Did Paterno defer the interview until later or did Freeh's team, or was it simply a matter of timing? It doesn't seem that any of us can say with certainty.
Interesting indeed. What’s really sad is that many of these “joepa true believers” are otherwise intelligent FReepers of good repute.
I just don’t understand their behavior here.
In fact I think I’m going to bow out of this. There’s no point.
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