The NFL commissioner's remarks come after two members of congress asked the NFL for evidence following the Washington Post report.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday that Daniel Snyder's reported interference attempts in the Washington Football Team probe "didn't interfere with the work that our investigator did."
This comes after The Washington Post reported that “lawyers and private investigators working on Snyder’s behalf took steps that potential witnesses ... viewed as attempts to interfere with the NFL’s investigation.”
While conducting the investigation in July 2020, Beth Wilkinson, an attorney hired to investigate the team, discovered that Snyder had reached a $1.6 million settlement with a former employee who described sexual misconduct by the co-owner. According to the Post, his legal team allegedly attempted to prevent Wilkinson from speaking with the woman.
Wilkinson did ultimately speak with the former employee, but this reportedly was not the only time Snyder and his lawyers allegedly attempted to interfere.
In response to the Post report, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, asked the NFL for information regarding Snyder's reported "interference" in the probe into sexual misconduct.
“Today’s news confirms our worst fears: Dan Snyder actively fought to undermine NFL’s investigation into WFT’s hostile workplace culture,” Rep. Krishnamoorthi said in a press release. “According to this reporting, not only did he try to prevent a key fact witness—a woman he paid $1.6 million in a sexual misconduct settlement—from speaking with investigators, he went as far as to send private investigator to witnesses’ homes. Snyder will stop at nothing."
The two congressional members penned a five-page letter to Goodell in October, asking him to produce “all documents and communications obtained in connection with the investigation into the WFT, its management, its owners, and any other matter relating to or resulting from the WFT investigation” by Nov. 4.
Goodell said the league would “be cooperative” with Congress, but according to ESPN, the NFL only partially responded to the House Democrats' request. The league reportedly only sent back answers to the members' questions but not documents of the findings as requested.
Then, in a letter on Nov. 5, the representatives called for the league and team to release all individuals from their non-disclosure agreements that prevented them from speaking out against Snyder or WFT about the work environment.
Snyder, co-owner of the WFT, hired Wilkinson to investigate the franchise's workplace culture following the Post previously releasing a report that included 15 former female employees of the team describing their alleged experiences with sexual harassment and verbal abuse within the organization. Additionally, WFT cheerleaders alleged they were secretly videotaped while getting undressed, and later reached a settlement with the team.
When the league took over, Wilkinson reported to Jeff Pash, the longtime general counsel of the NFL and advisor to Goodell. Pash came under scrutiny after the 650,000 emails the league investigated were partially leaked, resulting in ex-Raiders coach Jon Gruden's resignation. The New York Times uncovered misogynistic, racist and anti-LGBTQ emails sent by Gruden from 2010 to '18, which were also collected and reviewed by the NFL while it investigated the Washington Football Team. The ex-coach reportedly sent the emails to then-WFT president Bruce Allen.
Pash reportedly had a close relationship with Allen, whose correspondence was under investigation. This raised skepticism concerning the league's impartiality in the investigation, which Maloney and Krishnamoorthi alluded to in their initial letter.
WFT received a $10 million fine when the investigation concluded but Snyder was not personally punished as a result, although his wife did become co-CEO and began to handle day-to-day operations. The findings were not made public, and Wilkinson reportedly did not submit a written report but verbally shared her findings.
More on WFT and NFL Email Scandal:
- Gruden Faces Consequences, as Snyder Mostly Skates
- Report: NFL's Top Lawyer Had Close Relationship With Ex-WFT President Allen
- Report: Ex-WFT Employees Say Team Offered Money for Public Silence
- Dan Snyder Will Never Take Responsibility and Roger Goodell Won't Make Him
- Business of Football: Leaked WFT Emails Show How NFL Sausage Is Made