Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to speak publicly about her sexual assault by ex-Michigan State University Dr. Larry Nassar, said in a statement Saturday that the Ingham County Prosecutor's office declined to prosecute Nassar on sexual assault charges, a characterization the chief assistant prosecutor refutes.

The issue, first raised in December of 2017, bounced to the forefront of the governor's race earlier this week when the Michigan Republican Party released an ad saying Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer refused to press charges against Larry Nassar when she served as Ingham County Prosecutor. Attorney General Bill Schuette, the Republican candidate for governor, ended up charging Nassar with criminal sexual conduct.

Whitmer at a Friday press conference said the Republican ad's assertion was not true, and she referred the case to Schuette after realizing that it crossed multiple jurisdictions. Schuette at a Friday press conference said Whitmer's version of events was false and that the Michigan State University Police had referred the case to his office.

Denhollander released a statement on Saturday. It was not political and did not name either candidate. In it, Denhollander said she sought to "clarify certain facts" after having been asked to.

"It is accurate that the Attorney General's office was called because a decision had been made not to prosecute any sexual assault claims, including mine and Kyle Stephens', along with all other files, as of October 2016," Denhollander said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Denhollander said the decision was not based on the existence of multiple jurisdictions or a desire from the Ingham County Prosecutor to move the case to the Attorney General's office. She said the MSU Police Department alone brought the case to the Attorney General after the Ingham County Prosecutor chose not to pursue charges for any sexual assault.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick, who was at the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office at the time, said unequivocally the office, then led by Whitmer, did not decide not to prosecute.

"What I can say without doubt is that our office never made a charging decision because we never received any request to charge," McCormick said.

The Ingham County Prosecutor never got a police report or a request to charge, McCormick said, and could not have made a decision on whether or not to charge without those things in place. She provided a screen shot from the county's computer system, below, that showed no police report coming in on Nassar in 2016, when Whitmer was serving as prosecutor.

An image of the Ingham County Prosecutor's computer system, provided by Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick. McCormick said the image of their system shows that no police report on Nassar came in in 2016, when Whitmer served as Ingham County Prosecutor. (Courtesy photo.)

The MSU Police did request some warrants related to Nassar, one of which McCormick signed herself. And they consulted with the prosecutor's office about the statute of limitations, she said. Ultimately it went to the Attorney General's office.

"From my perspective it was a joint decision to go to the Attorney General's office. It was about what was right," McCormack said.

Asked about Denhollander's statement, Whitmer released a statement.

"At yesterday's press conference, I was joined by law enforcement officials and prosecutors who reaffirmed what Bridge Magazine's independent truth squad unequivocally reported: as Ingham County Prosecutor, my office acted swiftly and decisively to get the warrants that produced the evidence that led to Larry Nassar's first 60 year conviction," Whitmer said in the statement.

"As a rape survivor myself, nobody will fight harder than I will to deliver justice for the survivors of sexual abuse. Bill Schuette and the Republicans should listen to what Nassar survivors requested yesterday and stop running ads that exploit and weaponize the Nassar case for political gain."

Schuette in a statement said "This new information confirms that Gretchen Whitmer chose not to prosecute Larry Nassar and did not tell the truth about it yesterday at her press conference."

Denhollander said in her statement she decided to release a statement after being repeatedly asked to clarify facts claimed by candidates seeking office in Michigan. She has not and will not endorse any candidate, she said.

"We, and our stories, are not political pawns to be used by either side of the aisle. I sincerely hope that this will end. The only people who should bear slogan 'tough enough to take on Larry Nassar' are the nearly 200 women who showed up in Eaton and Ingham County to testify and ensure the full breadth of Larry's crimes were brought to light and punished accordingly," Denhollander said in the statement.

Nassar was convicted on federal child pornography charges and state sexual assault charges. He is currently in federal prison.