The Associated Press
The person cast as the mastermind of the hoax involving Notre Dame's
Manti Te'o may tell his side of the story, a family member said Sunday.
Peter
Navy Tuiasosopo, uncle of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, says the family plans to
hold a meeting this week to determine when and how his nephew would talk
about the bizarre prank.
"We want to do it right," he
said, also noting that the family has hired an attorney. He never
directly mentioned the hoax or his nephew being involved.
Te'o insisted he had no role in the hoax involving his "dead"
girlfriend and told ESPN on Friday night that he was duped by a person
who has since apologized to him.
In an off-camera
interview, Te'o identified that person as Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a
22-year-old acquaintance who lives in California. He said the young man
contacted him soon after Deadpsin.com broke the news on Wednesday. The
Deadspin story indicated Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was involved, and suggested
Te'o was, too.
"We're just a family of faith. The family
is holding up well," Peter Navy Tuiasosopo said. "They're holding up the
way I would expect a family to. This is a storm."
He
made the comments after attending a two-hour service at the Oasis
Christian Church, where his brother, who is Ronaiah's father, is pastor.
Titus Tuiasosopo, the father, choked up as he thanked people for their prayers.
"I've
been practicing how to say `no comment' in 20 languages," the pastor
told his congregation. The family has not commented publicly since news
of the hoax broke.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo wasn't seen in attendance, and two church members said he was not there.
Earlier
in the day, ABC news announced that Te'o would do his first television
interview with Katie Couric. The interview will air Thursday on Couric's
daytime talk show and Te'o's parents will be with him. ABC was not
releasing details of when the interview would take place or where.
Also, in a story published in Sunday's South Bend Tribune, a
Notre Dame spokesman said the university decided against disclosing the
hoax before the Irish played Alabama in the BCS championship game on
Jan. 7 because it wasn't in the best interest of the teams.
University
spokesman Dennis Brown said some school administrators thought they
should release what they knew about the hoax when they became aware of
it. Te'o went to coaches and school officials with his story on Dec. 26.
The school commissioned an investigation that it says confirmed Te'o
was not involved. Investigators gave their findings to the school on
Jan. 4.
The university officials said the investigators
did not examine cellphone records, emails or other electronic
communication to determine the length or extent of Te'o's communication
over the past few years with the person claiming to be Lennay Kekua, nor
did the university ask Te'o to take a lie detector test.
The school informed Te'o's parents about the investigation results on Jan. 5.