ND's Te'o Investigation - Another cover up?

Submitted by Knappster on

From a SB Tribune story...

The investigation ordered by Notre Dame was limited to the electronic search, Brown said. Investigators did not interview Te’o or his family, nor did anyone attempt to contact Ronaiah Tuiasosopo or any of his relatives.

In response to questions, university officials said the investigators did not examine cell phone records, e-mails or other electronic communication to determine the length or extent of Te’o’s
communication over the past few years with the person claiming to be Lennay Kekua, nor did the university ask Te’o to take a lie detector test.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/sbt-investigating-the-hoax-20130119,0,2…

Unreal!

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Shakey Jake

January 20th, 2013 at 11:01 AM ^

Cover up is always worse than the crime. Nothing would be better than to have this story keep breathing with new twist and turns to expose Notre Dame, assuming they had a hand in keeping Teo's story alive knowing all too well it smelled fishy.

As for Teo, the kid is a head case.

Joined: 05/12/2012

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Brown Bear

January 20th, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^

http://und.cbscollegestore.com/store_contents.cfm?store_id=61&partner_i… I don't know about crimes but the university made a lot of money selling these Lei shirts including a National Championship version which is still up in their team shop. Sure it doesn't say Te'o on it but we all know who their marketing tool is/was and that is the Lie who is Manti Te'o.

Joined: 01/10/2011

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Two Hearted Ale

January 20th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^

Christine Brennan has a pretty good op-ed comparing that Te'o story to the Lizzy Seeberg story.  Seeberg was a St. Mary's College student who accused a (still unnamed) Notre Dame football player of sexual assult.  She took her complaint to the Notre Dame police who did nothing.  A friend of the accused football player sent at least one threatening text message to Seeberg.  The Notre Dame athletic department didn't bother to hire a private investigator in that case.  Oh yeah, Seeberg committed suicide about a week after taking the complaint to the police.

The motives of the Notre Dame athletic department are pretty clear.  I have no idea whether a football player assulted Lizzy Seeberg, but if the Manti Te'o situation is worth an investigation surely the sexual assult claim is worth looking at.

link

Joined: 06/10/2011

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WolverineinSB

January 20th, 2013 at 2:57 PM ^

I'm pretty sure it was [Google it if you want to see the rumors elsewhere].

Mod edit: There have been some unsourced rumors on message boards, but my prior Googling and taking a second look now doesn't show any kind of news source backing those rumors. If there has been an established source willing to name the guy, go ahead and post it when there's an appropriate context, but unless that's the case I would rather not have it on MGoBoard. JGB.

Joined: 01/07/2009

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justingoblue

January 20th, 2013 at 6:46 PM ^

I've just taken a hard look when it came up before and haven't found anything reported, only message board posts from newspaper comments and things like that. It's not that I doubt you at all, this is just something I feel strongly about needing some kind of name behind before possibly having the MGoBoard connected with that story.

Joined: 11/16/2010

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Gameboy

January 20th, 2013 at 1:58 PM ^

Better yet, I have serious doubts about "Academic All-American" status that Te'o gained. If he was spending 8 hours every night talking to this girl, how the hell does he study for anything after the football practice? All of the interview is exposing Te'o with the mental capacity of a 10 year-old. And would anybody be surprised at this point if Te'o's grades were fantasy as well?

Joined: 11/28/2010

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Gameboy

January 20th, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^

Actually that major really lend itself for fraud. What if Te'o just handed in existing artworks as his own and the prof's just looked the other way. It takes VERY long time to create a decent design work - longer than banging away a 5000 word report.

Joined: 11/28/2010

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iawolve

January 20th, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^

I assume that girl whose picture was used is a good candidate considering she aske for none of this mess or anyone who contributed to the charity for Lennay. If Tuiasosopo is targeted, he pulls in his buddy Teo since he will have the money in a few months.

Joined: 11/03/2008

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Victor Hale II

January 20th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^

I agree to some extent. However, as others have noted, there seems to be a cover up of sorts among the ND brass. For this fact alone, I hope reporters dig like mad and expose them for the collective fraud they are. And again, as others have noted, look at how this compares to the Declan Sullivan and Lizzy Seeburg situations. The only thing ND concerns itself with is damage control in regard to its image...albeit too late, in the minds of many.

Joined: 12/28/2011

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FreddieMercuryHayes

January 20th, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^

Wait, so what did the investigation actually so then? If I read the article correctly, the investigators just looked at a database and confirmed Kekua didn't exist. Then they logged onto their twitter account and looked at tweets and conclude that Te'o wasn't involved? How much did that cost ND? Was the investigation ordered by ND just "turn up as little evidence as possible and make sure it doesn't implicate Te'o or ND?"

Joined: 12/29/2010

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Bosch

January 20th, 2013 at 10:03 AM ^

.... a policy in place to deal with a football player having an internet relationship with a fake girlfriend because, you know, that happens all the time.    :/

 

Joined: 04/03/2009

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swan flu

January 20th, 2013 at 10:04 AM ^

I am by no means good with computers, but could a hacker theoretically analyze the twitter posts from the fake girlfriend to determine if the ISP # is one belonging to Te'o? Or the fake sister... Perhaps I am wrong but I get the feeling that nothing anyone does on the Internet is secret anymore if someone wants to try hard enough to find the truth.

Joined: 08/16/2010

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M-Dog

January 20th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^

So, let's just pretend that we believe Teo and ND *cough* *cough*.

Then from a purely relationship angle, he looks even worse.  

This was his serious girlfriend that he said he was considering marrying.  Yet he never even attempted to meet her over the course of more than a year.  Not even when he was in her home state.  Not even when she was in a life threatning accident.  Not even when she had leukemia.  Not even when he heard she had died.  Not even for her funeral.  

Talk about a negligent boyfriend.

He obviously never even skyped her.  Yet this was the girl he was going to marry.  Um, Okaaaay.  

Where is Oprah on this one?  

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

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mGrowOld

January 20th, 2013 at 10:14 AM ^

I've been wondering about his late night interview on Friday and why he needed a lawyer there. What legal issues is he fearful of? There is obviously something else that hasn't been disclosed yet cause last time I checked being naive or even going along with a fictitious girlfriend isn't illegal.

Joined: 10/04/2010

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denardogasm

January 20th, 2013 at 11:06 AM ^

I'm really interested to hear someone tell me specifically what legal trouble he could be in as well. I don't even understand why ND has to investigate this at all. It was the media's fault for not investigating further (not that I blame them for not suspecting this crazy scenario), and last I checked lying isn't a crime unless its under oath. Even of he had won the Heisman no one could rightfully blame him for cheating the selection process because having a moving backstory is not supposed to be a criteria for winning anyway, so calling him out on it would just make the heisman look like a joke.

Joined: 09/11/2011

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UMgradMSUdad

January 20th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^

I'm guessing that the lawyer was there on insistance from his agent to make sure he said as little as possible so that he can plausibly continue with the "Te'o the innocent victim" narrative. The lawyer seems more likely there to protect his draft status than anything else, and given how much money a drop in the draft could cost him (and his agent) if he said something stupid, it seems like money well spent. 

Joined: 07/02/2011

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superstringer

January 20th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ^

because he doesn't prefer girls.

I posted a couple days ago -- a guy who was on his HS team (grades 7-10), who just finished playing for the Delaware Blue Hens, told a local DC radio station that even back then, Teo (who lived an hour away from their school) told classmates he had a "girlfriend back home" so no one ever met that girl.

This has been going on for a decade, in other words.  What kind of football player lies to his teammates about having a girlfriend?  One who doesn't feel that away about girls.

Joined: 02/04/2009

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RoZ06

January 20th, 2013 at 2:03 PM ^

You believe in God's inspired and inerrant word, the Bible. Although Mormons hold a radically different understanding of Scripture than evangelical Christians in many ways, Mormons still affirm the Bible's teachings on homosexual practice. It's is not implausible to think that this whole debacle stems from a fear of being discovered, but that's very speculative.

Joined: 03/10/2012

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pbmd

January 20th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^

America's discerning populace demands information.  Lance is boring.  

Who was the actress who spent hours(?) on the phone with her 1 person audience? (personally i remain skeptical).

please Oprah/TMZ/national inquirer/etc.  get on top of this!

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