Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks during a press conference Feb. 21 at the Frank Kelley Law Library in the Williams Building in Lansing, Michigan. Photo: Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP

The investigation of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal at Michigan State University is not over, and the Michigan Attorney General's office is putting renewed public pressure on the school to waive its attorney-client privilege over documents related to the scandal.

Newly elected state Attorney General Dana Nessel held her first public press conference Thursday, addressing Michigan State along with the state's Flint water crisis and clergy abuse in the Catholic Church. She said her office is still trying to find out who knew what and when about Nassar, a university sports doctor found guilty and imprisoned for assaulting young female athletes for over two decades.

“Full and complete cooperation of MSU frankly continues to be a challenge,” Nessel said at the press conference. “And the irony, of course, is that the trustees themselves are the ones who asked for the investigation. And yet, they have made the work of our department extraordinarily difficult.”

A school spokesperson Friday said the school had no comment, nor did the office of the board of trustees.

Nessel's office even went to court to demand some 7,600 documents being withheld, but East Lansing District Judge Richard Ball ruled that only 177 were not protected by attorney-client privilege. The school still has not handed over all of those 177.

Nessel urged the school's board of trustees to reverse an earlier decision to withhold the documents, which was based on the advice of then-school general counsel Robert Young. Young has since been ousted.

“I would like to remind the board of their fiduciary obligation to the people of this state,” Nessel said. “That means the board of trustees has an obligation to act in the best interest of the people of this state, not MSU's donors and not its brand image.”

Young argued for secrecy at the time because he said the privileged documents could be used against the school in its lawsuit against 13 insurance companies that have refused to pay the $500 million settlement with over 300 victims, or the school's multimillion-dollar legal fees.

The insurance companies have cited exclusion clauses in the policies. For example, if a school leader knew about Nassar's sexual abuse but didn't report it to proper authorities, then the insurance carrier doesn't have to pay. Or, if the school discovered Nassar's sexual abuse but didn't tell the insurance carrier immediately, then the carrier doesn't have to pay.

It appears that both of those exclusions may apply. A scathing preliminary report from the state attorney general's office issued in mid-December, along with a damning preliminary report by the U.S. Department of Education made public in late January, said at least 11 school officials knew of Nassar complaints through the years and the school either mishandled them or did nothing at all.

The reports severely criticized the general counsel's office for failing to enforce compliance with the federal law on properly reporting campus sex abuse, and assistant general counsel Kristine Moore in particular for her inadequate investigation into a 2014 complaint against Nassar. The school did not respond Friday to a Corporate Counsel request for an interview with Moore.

The state report also specifically attacked the university for “stonewalling the very investigation it pledged to support.”

It accused the school of issuing misleading public statements, waging needless battles over pertinent documents, asserting attorney-client privilege even when it did not apply, and drowning investigators in thousands of irrelevant documents—including the university's bed bug management-infection control policy, various restaurant coupons, and “the seemingly endless and duplicative” supply of emails from news-clipping services containing publicly available articles.

“These actions warrant extended discussion because they highlight a common thread we encountered throughout the investigation into how the university handled allegations against Nassar,” the report said. “Both then and now, MSU has fostered a culture of indifference toward sexual assault, motivated by its desire to protect its reputation.”

The report said the school also refused to turn over any results of an internal investigation by attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, a former U. S. attorney now with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

The report concluded that the school's actions “have made it virtually impossible to know exactly what happened at MSU during the Nassar years. For as long as MSU frustrates the search for the truth, we will never be fully confident that we have it.”