After Mel Tucker firing at Michigan State, investigation unable to find source of leaks

A sexual harassment complaint at Michigan State University – which led to the firing of Mel Tucker, one of college football's top coaches – first went public because the woman behind it learned that details about her case had circulated among local media. 

Three months after Tucker’s ouster, an outside law firm hired by the school concluded it couldn’t determine whether any university officials were responsible for leaking those details. 

But investigators said one member of the university's board of trustees wouldn't cooperate with their inquiry and withheld relevant information. They also said a subsequent email in the case was indeed leaked, by someone in a small circle of high-ranking officials.

The investigative report, released Friday, is the latest development in the case of rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy. Tracy's allegations that Tucker harassed her were first publicly reported in a USA TODAY investigation earlier this year. 

She said that after hiring her to speak to the football team about sexual violence, Tucker masturbated during an April 2022 phone call with her and made sexual comments and overtures toward her.

The university fired him for cause in September, three weeks after USA TODAY’s investigation, canceling the roughly $80 million left on his 10-year contract. In October, an outside attorney hired by the university found Tucker responsible for sexual harassment and exploitation. Tucker has appealed the ruling, and a final decision is due in early January.

Athletic director Alan Haller and other MSU officials said they knew a complaint had been filed against Tucker but did not know the details until reading them in the news. Only the school’s Title IX office was supposed to know details about the case – a best practice the university adopted to prevent school leaders from attempting to influence the outcome. 

Tracy and her attorney alleged details of her complaint had been improperly leaked by the MSU Board. MSU then hired an outside law firm, Jones Day, to investigate.

“Ms. Tracy is not surprised that MSU’s internal investigation failed to definitively identify the leak,” her attorney, Karen Truszkowski, said in a statement after the 13-page investigative report was released Friday. “Clearly there is a leak. We look forward to conducting a thorough, independent investigation to identify the source.”

Brenda Tracy’s sexual harassment case

Tracy filed a complaint against Tucker with the school’s Title IX office in December 2022 and first told USA TODAY about the case in May. At the time, she said she planned to go public with her story after the case ended. 

In early September, USA TODAY Network reporters in Michigan heard Tracy’s name and specific details about the case.  Without identifying those sources, USA TODAY relayed the information to Tracy, who gave consent to publish her story. 

Shortly after USA TODAY’s report Sept. 10, Tracy's attorney, Karen Truszkowski, emailed the school's general counsel accusing someone on the Board of leaking Tracy's name to people outside MSU. 

That email also became a focus of Jones Day's investigation. Investigators wrote that they were confident that one of 13 people within MSU's board or administration leaked Truszkowski's email to a reporter at The State News, the college's student-run newspaper, but were unable to identify the culprit.

The rest of the investigation focused on the university trustees and others who might have had access to the confidential complaint. It noted that only one person, trustee Dennis Denno, did not cooperate. 

Investigating leaks in Mel Tucker case 

Denno was the only one of eight trustees who declined to be interviewed by investigators or turn over his phone for review. Investigators said that while they did not have reason to believe Denno’s phone could prove a trustee leaked Tracy’s identity, they believe it may contain evidence that a person outside MSU, "Individual A," knew details of the case before they became public. But Denno and Individual A both refused multiple interview requests, the report said.

Denno did not return a voicemail and text message seeking comment Friday. 

“Maintaining privacy during our relationship violence and sexual misconduct investigations are of utmost importance, and we take this commitment very seriously,” said Michigan State Interim President Teresa Woodruff in a press release. “It is disappointing to learn that a potential breach occurred and while no source was identified, we understand the importance of trust and are committed to working with integrity in each case.”

Michigan State paid more than $500,000 to Jones Day and another law firm during their first two months of work on the leak probe, The Lansing State Journal reported. The other firm, Quinn Emmanuel, personally represented MSU Board Chair Rema Vassar and billed the university more than $200,000.

At a Board meeting this month, Vassar said she was "gratified" Jones Day's investigation had "exonerated her."

“The Board of Trustees takes OIE investigations seriously and this report demonstrates the Board’s commitment to privacy that is essential to that process,” Vassar said in Friday's press release.

Jones Day investigators reviewed emails, text messages and photos on seven of the eight trustees' phones and found no documentary evidence associating any of them with the alleged leaks. Investigators interviewed 52 witnesses, including three dozen university employees who all denied sharing confidential information about the harassment case with anyone outside the university, except some of their spouses. 

The investigation found that at least 44 people associated with Michigan State were aware of the investigation into its football coach, including all eight trustees. Most knew because it related to their job duties. MSU general counsel Brian Quinn also disclosed "general information" about the complaint against Tucker to all eight trustees, the report says, but did not provide Tracy's name or factual details of her allegations.

Tracy told select reporters at USA TODAY and ESPN about the case, as well as a sports columnist in Oregon, the report confirmed. Other reporters told Jones Day investigators they had deduced Tracy's identity without anyone providing her name based on the details they had learned.

Jones Day’s investigation did not “exonerate” the university, said Truszkowski, Tracy’s attorney – it “simply could not prove the source of the leak by a preponderance of the evidence.” 

“This is not a surprise considering that Trustee Denno refused to cooperate with the investigation,” Truszkowksi said. 

Jones Day’s report says it will reopen its investigation if new information comes to light.

Kenny Jacoby is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY covering sexual harassment and violence and Title IX. Contact him by email at [email protected] or follow him on X@kennyjacoby.