Congress questions Roger Goodell's actions and demands NFL to release full findings of Washington investigation
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is being called upon by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a letter to release the complete unearthing of the inquiry into the office environment of the Washington Commanders by February 14th under the threat of "alternate means of obtaining compliance."
🚨🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨🚨
Congress is giving the NFL a February 14th deadline to turn over EVERYTHING regarding the investigation into the toxic culture of the Redskins/Washington Football Team/Commanders. @wusa9 #TakeCommand #ReleaseTheReport
More: wusa9.com/article/news/l…
In a statement, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in response to the letter that the league will review it and respond to the Committee in time.
"We have received the Committee's letter. "We will review it and respond to them. We will continue to cooperate, as we have throughout the investigation. To date, we have shared nearly 80,000 pages of documents and made many others available for the Committee to review, in addition to responding to questions from the Committee, both in writing and in the course of numerous discussions.”
The legal agreement between @NFL & @Commanders PROVES the NFL never intended for accountability for Dan Snyder's dastardly deeds. NFL must release all docs in the Wilkinson investigation & her findings. Goodell must be brought in by @OversightDems & answer for this coverup! https://t.co/CFFPtwpwbK
McCarthy said the House Committee on Oversight and Reform wants documents that are shielded by attorney-client privilege:
"The Committee has requested many documents which are clearly protected by the attorney-client privilege or are attorney-work product. The League, and not the team, has and will determine which information it is in a position to produce."
Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Commanders owner Dan Snyder, released a statement saying they will provide "all remaining non-privileged emails." to the Committee soon.
"All remaining non-privileged emails are being provided to the Committee shortly."
In a statement obtained by NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, Siev said that Synder and the organization had never done anything to block the committee from obtaining documents that aren’t safeguarded by attorney-client privilege:
"Regarding today's letter from the Committee to the NFL, neither Mr. Snyder nor the team has ever done anything to block the Committee from receiving any documents it has requested from the NFL that are not expressly protected by attorney-client privilege or attorney work product.”
"The NFL may not be able to publicly release the findings of its internal investigation of the Washington Commanders without the explicit permission of owner Daniel Snyder." Via @TishaESPN.
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NFL and the Washington Commanders Investigation
Snyder authorized an investigation into the franchise’s workplace environment in July of 2020. that was then taken over by the NFL at the conclusion of August that same year.
Following the investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson and her law firm, the league fined Washington $10 million in July of last year, and Snyder gave the day-to-day operations of the team to his wife, Tanya, on an interim basis.
Snyder contested the allegations made against him during a congressional roundtable in the nation’s capital. This includes a new claim of workplace misbehavior by a former Washington employee.
Siev issued a second refutation on behalf of the Commander's owner, stating that her claims came as a result of being approached by Wilkinson and her firm but that she refused to be interviewed.
"The former team employee who spoke for the first time yesterday resigned through a thankful and cheery resignation note more than 13 years ago -- citing her '5 and a half wonderful years working for the Washington Redskins.' We understand that she was approached by the Wilkinson law firm in 2020 as part of its investigation, but she refused to be interviewed. The unsworn allegations she made for the first time yesterday against Mr. Snyder are false, and have been categorically denied by Mr. Snyder."
In the course of the roundtable conversation, Tiffani Johnston, who worked for the team for eight years starting in 2002 as a cheerleader and marketing manager, stated Snyder placed his hand on her thigh without her permission at a team dinner, and that he shoved her in the direction of his limousine with his hand on her lower back. She had not formerly made known these assertions to the media or investigators.
Tiffani Johnston, the former marketing and events coordinator at the Washington Commanders, told Congress about an alleged incident involving team owner Dan Synder that she had never publicly revealed before. Here's what she said... (1/12)
Johnston told Congress that she was "strategically" placed by Snyder at "a work dinner" at the Oceanaire restaurant in DC to "allow him, Dan Snyder, to place his hand on my thigh under the table." (2/12)
"I learned that the only reason Dan Snyder removed his hand from my back and stopped pushing me towards his limo was because his attorney intervened and said 'Dan, Dan, this is a bad idea. A very bad idea, Dan.'" (6/12 )
Afterwards, in the hall, Johnston said she had not shared this incident with Beth Wilkinson during the NFL's investigation because of fears of retaliation from Dan Snyder, but she and her husband had decided together that she needed to come forward with this incident. (11/12)
In response to these allegations, McCarthy further went on to say that the league will ultimately determine what further action to take.
“The NFL is reviewing and will consider Ms. Johnston’s allegations as we would any other new allegations regarding workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders. We will determine any further action as appropriate."
NFL's Brian McCarthy: “The NFL is reviewing and will consider Ms. Johnston’s allegations as we would any other new allegations regarding workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders. We will determine any further action as appropriate."
Needless to say, this issue will not be going away anytime soon as now Congress is getting involved.
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