Ex-FBI director: Grateful for support after crash

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Former FBI Director Louis Freeh said Friday he was grateful for the care and support he has received since he was injured this week in a Vermont car crash.

Freeh issued a statement through the office of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy after the Vermont senator visited Freeh in the hospital. The two have been friends for years.

In the statement, Freeh thanked a number of officials including Vice President Joe Biden and FBI Director James Comey. He also thanked FBI agents and employees.

“From the very first moments of the accident to the present, their devotion, vigilance and prayers have sustained me and my family,” said the 64-year-old Freeh. “I have the greatest respect and affection for them and their families.”

Freeh, of Wilmington, Delaware, did not describe his injuries or condition or discuss what caused the Monday crash in the town of Barnard. Following the midday accident on Vermont Route 12, he was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The hospital hasn’t provided any information about Freeh.

The Vermont State Police and the Department of Motor Vehicles said the accident report will be released once it is finalized. A preliminary investigation found no indication drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash.

Freeh was a federal judge in New York before serving as FBI director from 1993 to 2001. He previously served six years as a special agent. He founded his consulting firm, Freeh Group International Solutions LLC, in 2007.

In 2011, Penn State hired Freeh to examine the handling of child sex abuse complaints involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and to recommend changes aimed at preventing abuse.

Freeh issued a blistering report contending that legendary head football coach Joe Paterno and other top Penn State officials concealed what they knew about Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children for more than a decade ago to avoid bad publicity.

Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 on 45 criminal counts.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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