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Lawmakers choke back tears, scream at Olympic sport leaders for sex-abuse scandal

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers used an emotionally charged House subcommittee hearing to get answers about what they portrayed as the U.S. Olympic Committee’s slow-moving, underfunded response to a steadily widening sex-abuse scandal in Olympic sports.

CEO Shellie Pfohl of the U.S. Center for SafeSport spoke Wednesday during a hearing that had one representative choking back tears and another screaming at the witnesses.

Pfohl told lawmakers that when the office opened in 2017, it received 20 to 30 calls a month. She said in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the Larry Nassar sentencing, it’s increased to 20 to 30 per week.