John Engler reveals why his apology was delayed

After it took Michigan State University interim president John Engler more than one week to apologize after it was revealed that he sent an e-mail containing disparaging remarks about Rachael Denhollander to Carol M. Viventi, the vice president and special counsel to the president, in mid-April, he has revealed his reason for his delayed apology.

Engler stated in this e-mail that Denhollander, who was the first person to publicly accuse disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State physician Larry Nassar of sexual assault, was likely receiving a "kickback" from her lawyer. Her lawyer, John Manly, is also the lawyer for several others who have accused Nassar of sexual assault.

Nassar was arrested in December of 2016 three months after The Indianapolis Star published Denhollander's account of being sexually assaulted by the 54-year-old.

He has since been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on three child pornography charges, between 40 and 175 years in state prison on seven sexual assault charges and between an additional 40 and 125 years in state prison on three more sexual assault charges.

He was given these three prison sentences this past December, January and February, respectively. He is currently serving his 60-year federal prison sentence, and he is doing so at United States Penitentiary, Tucson in Tucson, Arizona.

In regard to why it took Engler so long to apologize for making the remarks that he made about Denhollander, here is what he had to say about the matter, according to WXYZ Detroit.

“I was down in Texas and frankly wasn’t spending very much time talking to the office, you know. It took a while, got back here on campus, getting ready for the meeting.

"I was in Texas, and one of the things you do when you’re working with your wife and you haven’t seen her for a while, and you’re working on a home that you’re building, you pay attention.

“That was a private e-mail written back in April, right in the middle of these tensions, and I was completely frustrated, because I can’t say anything (at the time).”

Engler's issued his apology, which you can read in its entirety right here, more than one week after his disparaging remarks about Denhollander were revealed. He issued his apology after 137 of the people who have accused Nassar of sexual assault signed a letter urging the Michigan State Board of Trustees to fire him, which was right before the Michigan State Board of Trustees decided that Engler would not be fired.