The Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform held an open hearing on allegations of workplace misconduct levied in the direction of owner Daniel Snyder and the Washington Commanders on Wednesday.
Said hearing included NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appearing remotely under oath to answer questions about the league’s handling of the allegations and Snyder’s role specifically.
For the most part, it acted as a dog-and-pony show with government “leaders” focusing on everything outside of the issues at hand. This also came after specific allegations of sexual assault against Snyder himself were made public record.
In said hearing, committee members released a 29-page memo supported by hundreds of depositions alleging that Daniel Snyder ran a “shadow investigation” into the allegations that attempted to discredit those former employees who claimed misconduct.
Read into Congressional memo on Daniel Snyder allegations here.
“This memorandum describes evidence uncovered by the Committee demonstrating that
Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform memo on Daniel Snyder allegations
although publicly, the NFL and Commanders touted the hiring of a respected D.C. attorney to
conduct an internal investigation of the Commanders toxic workplace, privately, Commanders
owner Daniel Snyder launched a shadow investigation in an apparent effort to discredit his
accusers in the eyes of the NFL and offer up an alternative target for the investigation.”
New allegations against Daniel Snyder
- Daniel Snyder’s shadow investigation included a dossier with text messages, telephone records, emails and social media posts from individuals who had made credible accusations against the organization.
- Snyder and his lawyers sent private investigators to the homes of cheerleaders and others who had made allegations.
- The Committee claims that the NFL knew about these actions and didn’t take any steps to prevent them.
From the memo:
“Mr. Snyder’s former Chief Operating Offiers, David Panken, testified that when Mr. Snyder learned that a member of the team’s coaching staff had groped a public relations employee, Mr. Snyder refused to take action against the coach and instead directed that the victim ‘stay away from the coach.'”
For his part, a spokesman for Daniel Snyder called the report “a politically charged show trial.” However, it must be noted that the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform is nonpartisan by nature and included those on both aisles calling out the embattled owner in a public forum.
Related: Candidates to buy the Washington Commanders from Daniel Snyder
Daniel Snyder, Washington Commanders send memo to employees
Shortly after Wednesday’s hearing wrapped up, a letter that Commanders co-owners Daniel Snyder and Tanya Snyder sent to employees was leaked to the public. Here’s the full letter claiming that reforms have taken place within the organization.
For his part, Goodell told the Committee that Congress has no power to remove Snyder from his role as owner. With that said, there’s reportedly been a push from other NFL owners to force him to sell.
All of this comes with the Committee having issued a subpoena to force Snyder into testifying under oath after he refused to meet with them this week.