Ropes & Gray, a law firm hired to investigate systemic deficiencies that enabled Larry Nassar to sexually abuse hundreds of gymnasts, said it has reviewed more than 1 million documents over the past seven months.

It has interviewed more than 60 officials from the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, ranging from "the most senior leadership to junior employees."

Now Ropes & Gray is calling for survivors to share their stories — a request that has been met with resistance from people who worry how the stories will be used and skepticism from those who question the timing and legitimacy of the investigation.

Sarah Klein, believed to be one of Nassar's first victims from the late 1980s, said she has seen no sign that Ropes & Gray is anything other than a shell for the USOC.

"Perhaps an interim report that appears honest might give us survivors a reason to speak to them," Klein said. "As a lawyer — and if I was acting as a lawyer in this case — there’s no way I would allow my clients to speak to them."

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Attorney John Manly, who represents many of Nassar's survivors, has refused thus far to allow his clients to be interviewed by Ropes & Gray.

The attorneys seem to be honest, decent people, he said, but their investigation depends on honesty and cooperation of USA Gymnastics and the USOC. Manly said those organizations aren't trustworthy.

"USOC is doing everything they can, USA Gymnastics is doing everything they can, to obfuscate the truth and hurt the girls and women we represent," he said.

Manly said he believes there needs to be a federally led, coordinated criminal investigation into what happened in the Nassar case.

He said he would consider letting his clients be interviewed by Ropes & Gray if there was a stipulation that all of the documentation the law firm has collected would be provided to him and to Congress. He also wants all parties to agree that the survivors' statements could not be used against them in their civil lawsuits.

“The goal of this process is to identify what went wrong and ensure that it never happens again," said Patrick Sandusky, USOC spokesperson."The investigators have a broad mandate and complete independence, and obviously the more people that participate, especially those that find fault with our organization, the more likely that we’ll get a report that helps us chart our course for the future.

"We're hopeful that any survivor that is able will speak with the investigative team and help us build the sort of organizations that America’s athletes deserve.”

In a statement, USA Gymnastics said it "fully supports and is cooperating with" the investigation. The national governing body said it has turned over requested records.

"USA Gymnastics is committed to making changes, with athlete safety and well-being as the priority, and doing everything we can to prevent what happened from happening again," the organization said in a statement to IndyStar. "The safety and interests of our athletes remain at the heart of our mission."

For its part, Ropes & Gray has tried to ease survivors' concerns. In an open letter published Friday, the law firm said its mission is to issue "an unvarnished and definitive report that addresses individual and institutional accountability for personal and systemic failures and helps ensure that such an outrage never happens again."

Ropes & Gray said survivors' stories "play a critical role" in that.

"We have sought from the beginning of our investigation to speak with the survivor community, but we have not attempted to contact you directly out of respect for your privacy and because some athletes have retained counsel," the law firm said in a letter signed by former federal prosecutors Joan McPhee and James P. Dowden. "We believe strongly in doing everything we can to make sure we have heard from every survivor who is interested in speaking with us before we complete our investigation."

Some of the reluctance to engage in Ropes & Gray's investigation stems from the way in which the law firm was hired. Throughout the past two years, the USOC declined to take action until it faced pressure from the public and congressional leaders.

When IndyStar's initial investigation into USA Gymnastics was published in 2016, USOC officials defended the national governing body and declined to investigate gymnastics executives' policy of not reporting all allegations of sexual abuse to authorities.

It wasn't until seven months later, after it was revealed that USA Gymnastics had waited five weeks to report the allegations against Nassar, that the USOC pressured former USA Gymnastics president and CEO Steve Penny to resign.

In January, after dozens of athletes shared their stories of abuse during Nassar's sentencing for criminal sexual conduct in Michigan, the USOC required USA Gymnastics to replace its entire board leadership, arguing it was a necessary part of "changing the culture of the sport."

Only then did the USOC pledge to hire a law firm to investigate what happened in the Nassar case.

Attorney Jon Little, who also represents survivors, said he met with Ropes & Gray earlier this year. He said he appreciates their efforts to gather information, but he's skeptical that the investigation can be independent when the USOC is paying the law firm lots of money.

"It’s hard for me to totally throw them under the bus without seeing their product," Little said, "but history tells me when these (national governing bodies) hire, and the USOC hires, big law firms, the investigations are incompetent, self-serving and secret."

In a statement, Ropes & Gray said it did not accept the assignment until it made sure its work would be independent of the USOC, USA Gymnastics and others. It said the entire report will be made public.

It is unclear whether the results of that investigation also will be provided directly to prosecutors or law enforcement. Ropes & Gray spokesman Tim Larimer said he cannot comment on the ongoing investigation.

"We alone direct the investigation and the writing of our report — no one else will have input or influence into the questions we ask, the findings we make, or our ultimate conclusions," the law firm said in its open letter to survivors.

The law firm said it expects to release its report before the end of the year.

Contact Ropes & Gray

Visit nassarinvestigation.com or call 833-458-8316 to learn more. The law firm will speak with survivors and/or their attorneys to answer any questions.

Get help

The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network has a free, confidential national sexual assault hotline at 800-656-4673. For more information and resources, visit rainn.org/get-help.