Penn State's former president says he issued a statement calling criminal charges against two of his lieutenants groundless because he'd known and worked closely for them for 16 years.
Graham Spanier testified Thursday in the defamation and whistleblower lawsuit against the university by former assistant football coach Mike McQueary.
Spanier compared former vice president Gary Schultz and former athletic director
Tim Curley to Boy Scouts, saying they had a history of being completely straightforward with him.
He issued the statement through the university the day in November 2011 that they were charged with perjury and failure to report suspected abuse for their handling of McQueary's complaint that ex-assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had abused a boy in a team shower.
The lawsuit claims the statement defamed McQueary by making him look like a liar.
