Daniel Snyder “permitted and participated” in the team’s longtime toxic culture, according to the final report of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, per ESPN. The report also says that the Washington Commanders owner obstructed a 14-month congressional inquiry by dodging a subpoena, working to dissuade and intimidate witnesses from cooperating, and claiming more than 100 times in testimony that he could not recall answers to simple questions.
The committee also took aim at the NFL for burying a 2020-21 investigation of the Commanders’ workplace led by attorney Beth Wilkinson. “We saw efforts that we have never seen before, at least I haven’t,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, said who chaired the committee. “The NFL knew about it, and they took no responsibility.” The report also states that the NFL put the interest of league owners ahead of NFL employees by failing to protect them or ensure that victims can speak up without retaliation.
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“The NFL chose to bury Ms. Wilkinson’s findings and whitewash the misconduct it uncovered,” the committee’s report stated. “Rather than seek real accountability, the NFL aligned its legal interests with Mr. Snyder’s, failed to curtail his abusive tactics, and buried the investigation’s findings.”
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy released a statement Thursday that said the league is committed to ensuring that all employees of the NFL and the 32 clubs work in a professional and supportive environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, or other forms of illegal or unprofessional conduct.”
As mentioned by Yahoo Sports, the committee detailed multiple allegations of misconduct against Snyder, including inappropriately touching former Commanders employee Tiffani Johnson at a team event and ignoring or refusing to beleive complaints of sexual misconduct against team executives.
The Commanders released a strong statement against the committee, saying Snyder has fully cooperated with investigators. “These Congressional investigators demonstrated, almost immediately, that they were not interested in the truth, and were only interested in chasing headlines by pursuing one side of the story,” the statement said. “Today’s report is the predictable culmination of that one-sided approach. There are no new revelations here.” Snyder, 58, has been the Commanders’ owner since 1999. He has dealt with his share of controversy, including not changing the team’s original nickname until 2020.
