In 2019, the Department of Justice revealed the findings of an FBI investigation with the

code name Operation Varsity Blues.

Here today, to announce charges in the largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by

the Department of Justice.

The scam involved wealthy parents funneling bribes through a college consultant to get their

children into schools where they didn't belong. There were fake test scores, fake athletic

credentials, and cash payments to college coaches. The actress Lori Loughlin and her

fashion designer husband Massimo Giannouli paid half a million dollars to get their two

daughters into the University of Southern California as recruits to the highly ranked USC

crew team. Even though, as the New York Times put it, neither girl participated in the

sport. An applicant to Tulane University was described as an African-American tennis

whiz, even though she didn't play competitive tennis, and was white.

Among the other universities involved were Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, some of the most

elite schools in America. All told, 57 people were charged as a result of Operation Varsity

Blues, including coaches, exam administrators, and of course, parents.

These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege. They include, for example, CEOs of private

and public companies, successful securities and real estate investors, two well-known

actresses, a famous fashion designer, and the co-chairman of a global law firm.

A couple parents even went to prison for a bit, including Loughlin and the other well-known

actress Felicity Huffman. This became a huge story, and it led to many questions. Who knew

what at these universities? How could something like this happen at such esteemed institutions?

And really, you can just pretend to row crew to get into college? But there was one question

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