Snyder allowed team's toxic culture, report finds

Washington Commanders proprietor Daniel Snyder "permitted and participated" successful the team's longtime toxic enactment civilization and obstructed a 14-month legislature enquiry by dodging a subpoena, moving to dissuade and intimidate witnesses from cooperating and claiming much than 100 times successful grounds that helium could not callback answers to basal questions, according to the last study of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee connected Oversight and Reform.

The committee's 79-page study released Thursday besides comes down hard connected the NFL, concluding that the league was complicit successful Snyder's efforts by not cooperating with the legislature enquiry and burying a 2020-21 probe of the Commanders' workplace led by lawyer Beth Wilkinson, the results of which person ne'er been afloat released.

"We saw efforts that we person ne'er seen before, astatine slightest I haven't," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, who chaired the committee. "The NFL knew astir it and they took nary responsibility."

NFL officials "were acting similar they were doing something," Maloney told ESPN. "Then they crook astir and hole it truthful she can't talk. Her study is ne'er going to beryllium made public, yet she was expected to beryllium hired to code it. The hypocrisy. The coordinated effort to fell what they acknowledged."

The legislature report, citing allegations of harassment and maltreatment against respective different teams, says the NFL has enactment the interests of league owners up of NFL employees, failing to support them oregon guarantee that victims tin talk up without fearfulness of retaliation.

"The NFL chose to hide Ms. Wilkinson's findings and whitewash the misconduct it uncovered," the committee's study says. "Rather than question existent accountability, the NFL aligned its ineligible interests with Mr. Snyder's, failed to curtail his abusive tactics, and buried the investigation's findings."

An NFL spokesperson contacted by ESPN Thursday said the league had not seen the study and would not comment.

The Commanders, who besides did not instantly comment, person attacked committee efforts arsenic driven by partisan authorities and said Snyder and the squad cooperated afloat with investigators.

"The probe of the Washington Commanders has not been fair, thorough, oregon bipartisan, and it surely hasn't sought the truth," Tom Davis, an lawyer who lobbied the committee connected behalf of the team, said successful an October missive to Congress. "From the beginning, the Committee acceptable retired with a singular intent -- to destruct Dan Snyder and his household and attempt, with deception, innuendo, and half-truths, to thrust him from the National Football League. This probe reeks of the lowest signifier of authorities and its lone intent is idiosyncratic destruction."

Republicans connected the committee issued a memo successful effect to the report, saying "The Democrats' sham probe into the Washington Commanders has been an egregious discarded of taxpayer-funded resources" and that Democrats person misused a committee that should beryllium focused connected the government.

"No instauration exists for conducting legislature oversight of the Team," the memo says. "Simply put, Congress cannot supply immoderate further alleviation oregon remedies to immoderate of the aggrieved parties. Why, then, has the Committee investigated a nonrecreational shot squad and targeted an idiosyncratic squad owner? Committee Democrats person chosen to weaponize the powerfulness of Congress against a azygous backstage workplace."

The GOP memo besides joins successful Snyder's refrain that erstwhile squad president and wide manager Bruce Allen is to blasted for the team's toxic culture; Allen counters that helium didn't enactment for the squad during galore of the years successful question. The Republicans released 57 emails and documents, including dozens of images of nude and near-nude women that they accidental came from Allen's enactment account.

"These emails amusement that nether Allen's enactment determination was a toxic workplace -- 1 that has since been reformed based connected autarkic third-party reviews of the team's culture," the memo says. "Committee Democrats person not identified oregon presented immoderate akin emails oregon documents identifying immoderate racist, misogynistic, oregon homophobic behaviour from Dan Snyder."

In summation to its report, the House committee released excerpted transcripts from sworn grounds Snyder gave remotely from aboard his yacht successful July and from September grounds by Allen.

Among cardinal revelations successful the committee study and transcripts:

• During his deposition, Snyder told investigators, "I've said galore times, and proceed to state, we apologize for immoderate workplace misconduct of the team." But the investigators enactment that Snyder "continued to blasted others astir him and minimized the experiences of much than 100 existent and erstwhile employees."

• Under oath, Snyder "admitted to utilizing backstage investigators," the study says, but Snyder claimed to beryllium "unaware" whom his investigators approached and did not "remember" having conversations with his counsel astir the individuals targeted. "Mr. Snyder could callback precise small erstwhile questioned astir allegations of misconduct against him, including circumstantial allegations raised successful caller property stories," investigators note.

• In his testimony, Allen recounted his brushwood with a backstage researcher Snyder hired to travel him, and helium besides swore that Snyder erstwhile talked with him astir hiring a backstage oculus to travel NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

• While the NFL appeared connected the aboveground to person cooperated with committee requests for documents, overmuch of what the league provided was "news articles, property clippings, and nationalist tribunal records." Investigators said the league "refused to crook over" astatine slightest 40,000 documents collected by Wilkinson during the league's interior investigation, including Wilkinson's written findings presented to the NFL during her investigation.

• Despite claims by Snyder's attorneys that the squad released erstwhile employees from restrictions placed connected them by non-disclosure agreements, "a important fig of imaginable witnesses" were incapable to stock their experiences with investigators either retired of fearfulness of retaliation oregon due to the fact that Snyder and the Commanders declined would not merchandise them from their "confidentiality obligations."

• Allen testified that an NFL enforcement indicated to him that the Commanders were down the leak of racist and misogynistic emails linked to erstwhile Las Vegas Raiders manager Jon Gruden.

As the committee finishes its work, the NFL continues its 2nd probe of Snyder, this clip led by erstwhile Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White. And the lawyer wide of Washington, D.C., has sued the team, the NFL and Goodell connected allegations of fiscal improprieties related to season-ticket deposits.

ESPN reported past period that the U.S. attorney's bureau successful the Eastern District of Virginia besides has opened a transgression probe into the fiscal allegations. On the aforesaid day, Dan and Tanya Snyder announced they had hired Bank of America to research imaginable transactions, and a spokesperson said they were exploring each options.

Snyder testified helium 'can't recall'

The study says Snyder claimed much than 100 times nether oath that helium could not callback oregon was unaware of "basic accusation astir his relation arsenic the proprietor of the Commanders." Issues Snyder claimed not to retrieve included hirings and firings, his cognition of alleged intersexual harassment by elder squad officials and astatine slightest 7 presentations made by his lawyers to the NFL during lawyer Wilkinson's investigation. He besides said helium did not callback his attorneys offering wealth to erstwhile employees successful speech for signing non-disclosure agreements during that investigation.

On the taxable of squad executives tasking employees to marque unauthorized videos made of bare cheerleaders, Snyder invoked "I can't recall" 7 times successful 1 excerpted transition of testimony. He swore he'd ne'er seen what helium called "the purported videos" and had nary recollection of what helium oregon the squad did astir them, the transcript says.

The committee's study besides details the genesis of a $10 cardinal good the NFL said it levied against the Commanders connected July 1, 2021, aft the Wilkinson report. According to the report, Snyder's ineligible squad negotiated the presumption of the fine, allowing Snyder to wage $5 cardinal to the NFL, with the different $5 cardinal sent to astir 22 charitable organizations wrong the Washington region, a woody that "may person allowed the Team to instrumentality taxation deductions for its charitable contributions and payments to the League, thereby conferring the Commanders a benefit."

Committee unit recommended that Congress "should see prohibiting nonrecreational sports squad owners from taking taxation deductions connected fines oregon penalties paid successful transportation with workplace misconduct investigations."

Under NFL rules, Goodell did not person authorization to levy the good unless helium received the support of two-thirds of the squad owners astatine a peculiar league meeting, according to investigators. Snyder attorneys told the committee that, "after immoderate discussion" betwixt the NFL and Snyder's lawyers, the 2 sides agreed connected the $10 cardinal sum. They besides revealed to investigators that Snyder's representatives "were actively involved" successful the league's announcement of the good and Wilkinson's findings.

As portion of the committee's inquiry, Goodell testified earlier the afloat Oversight Committee successful June that Snyder "has been held accountable" aft facing "unprecedented discipline" that included "being removed and distant from the team."

Since October, determination person been mixed signals astir whether Snyder has resumed day-to-day operations of the team. ESPN has reported, and Goodell confirmed successful an October property conference, that helium was operating nether the premise that Snyder is inactive nether progressive probe and limits imposed connected him were continuing.

But successful his July deposition, Snyder testified that "he had resumed involvement, including by giving 'advice and help' erstwhile 'needed; being 'updated and kept informed' by squad President Jason Wright; and holding meetings with caput Coach Ron Rivera astir the shot play and 'future' of the franchise," the study says.

"These assorted assertions formed superior uncertainty connected the NFL Commissioner's assertion that Mr. Snyder had been 'held accountable,' by being removed from squad operations," the committee study says.

Allen testifies astir backstage investigators

Allen besides testified that Snyder has tried to transportation different owners to region Goodell and told Allen during the tallness of the NFL's nationalist anthem contention that helium wanted to usage backstage investigators to travel Goodell.

"He said astatine that time, 'I'm going to follow, I'm going to person him followed, travel the Commissioner,' You know, I'm going to find thing retired astir him,'" Allen testified.

ESPN archetypal reported successful October that Snyder bragged to associates that helium had collected "dirt" connected squad owners and Goodell to stave disconnected immoderate effort to unit him to merchantability the Commanders.

Allen, who testified Snyder made the comments successful his office, said helium "didn't deliberation helium was serious, due to the fact that it's just, it's a brainsick thought, that I'm going to pain down the gathering adjacent door."

Allen began to reconsider, however, erstwhile helium discovered different erstwhile employees had encountered backstage investigators hired by Snyder's attorneys. "Now, aft I've work astir everyone who's getting followed astir the country, I don't cognize if it was existent oregon not," Allen testified. "And then, obviously, erstwhile it occurred to me, it was like, 'Wow.'"

Allen said helium archetypal discovered backstage investigators tailing his movements portion moving into a caller location successful Arizona successful March 2021. He testified that the location was connected a constrictive thoroughfare with small traffic, and his woman had noticed an unfamiliar car with its motor moving parked extracurricular their home.

"I had made immoderate coffee," Allen testified. "And I went out. And the man stepped retired of the car and helium said, 'Hi, Mr. Allen.' I said, 'Well, that's interesting. You request a cupful of coffee?' Are you present to service maine with a subpoena oregon something?'

"He said, 'No, we're conscionable present to travel you,' and thing similar 'document your actions.'"

Allen said the researcher identified himself arsenic a erstwhile FBI cause and offered a concern card, besides pointing retired an subordinate successful a 2nd car down the thoroughfare who was waiting successful lawsuit Allen drove retired of the vicinity different way. Allen said helium asked who sent the investigators.

"He said the Washington Football Team, which they weren't the Commanders yet," Allen said.

Allen said the antheral followed him to the rental location helium was moving from to get immoderate much boxes, and different researcher was waiting there.

"I thought it was despicable," Allen testified. "And it's worse for others. I don't cognize if they followed my wife. ... But erstwhile I've work immoderate of these different testimonies, I felt for radical who went done akin situations."

He said the surveillance included the usage of drones "outside the backmost of our house" and added that an researcher confronted a operation idiosyncratic astatine the location to ask, "Tell america astir Bruce Allen."

The committee besides released video of a backstage researcher captured connected a location surveillance strategy successful April 2021 arsenic helium attempted to stitchery accusation connected erstwhile cheerleader Abigail Dymond Welch, 1 of the women investigators judge was captured successful videos created from the outtakes of swimsuit calendar shoots.

Maloney characterized Snyder's alleged usage of backstage investigators "extreme behavior" that she had ne'er encountered successful 3 decades connected Capitol Hill. "He was intimidating the workforce and the executives. Anyone who spoke out, helium had backstage investigators spell to their location and way them. Going to a cheerleader's location with their children and effort to connection hush wealth and effort to intimidate them not to speech anymore."

The committee had antecedently revealed, successful a 29-page memorandum released successful June, that the instrumentality steadfast Reed Smith sought to "harass and intimidate" and "secure the silence" of erstwhile employees and imaginable witnesses during the Wilkinson investigation.

Reed Smith spouse Jordan Siev told ESPN successful October that it "had nary cognition of immoderate efforts to analyse oregon compile information" connected NFL owners, executives oregon Goodell. Siev did not respond to questions astir whether Reed Smith commissioned investigations connected erstwhile Commanders employees.

In the recently released transcript, committee investigators inquire Snyder's specifically astir the firm, asking, "Did Reed Smith nonstop backstage investigators to the location of Bruce Allen?"

Snyder replied: "I'm not sure. I'm unaware."

In his deposition, Snyder told committee unit that the backstage investigators were employed to stitchery accusation for an defamation suit successful India, and were not portion of immoderate effort to intimidate oregon retaliate against those employees who came forward.

ESPN's October study cited aggregate ineligible and squad sources arsenic saying Snyder utilized the Wilkinson probe arsenic a "tip sheet" for his instrumentality firms to signifier an "enemies list." The committee study states that ESPN's reporting was "consistent with grounds uncovered by the Committee."

Snyder has denied launching what the committee has called a "shadow investigation." He testified that a 100-page dossier of accusation connected his erstwhile employees, including cheerleaders and Allen, "had thing to do" with the Wilkinson investigation, adjacent though his ineligible squad presented the contents of the dossier to some the NFL and Wilkinson.

The committee study spends respective pages fleshing retired a timeline that punches holes successful Snyder's defence of the dossier. "Mr. Snyder suggested that the backstage investigators employed by his lawyers whitethorn person 'made a mistake and went determination wrong,'" the study says. "However, helium insisted that they 'only utilized investigators regarding the India lawsuits.'"

Attempts to blasted Allen for toxic culture

In his deposition, Allen testified that helium informed Lisa Friel, the NFL's elder vice president and peculiar counsel for investigations who was helping to oversee the Wilkinson investigation, astir his acquisition with the backstage investigators successful April 2021.

He said Friel gave him the content that she was "not shocked" by his communicative and called Snyder's actions "conduct detrimental" to the integrity of the league.

"They knew," Maloney said. "They knew. They called it detrimental behaviour that they past go complicit successful by hiding the detrimental conduct. So it could continue, virtually could continue. And that was, to me, irresponsible beyond belief."

Friel besides informed Allen of Snyder's efforts to blasted him for the team's "decades-long toxic culture," telling him of the team's presentations to the NFL astir Allen's relation successful day-to-day operations of the franchise, according to his testimony.

Friel besides "indicated that the Commanders were liable for the leak" of racist and misogynistic emails linked to Gruden that appeared successful the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal successful October 2021, Allen testified. Congressional investigators had antecedently uncovered grounds that Snyder's lawyers had provided those emails to the league successful the summertime of 2021 arsenic portion of Snyder's effort to deflect blasted onto Allen.

Allen testified that erstwhile helium learned astir the leak to the Wall Street Journal, helium called Friel, who told him, "We didn't bash it astatine the league office. It came retired of their side."

The study noted that the time earlier Allen was scheduled to beryllium deposed, Snyder's ineligible squad sent the committee unsolicited emails that "contained embarrassing connection and inappropriate content" that had been sourced from Allen's squad account, including emails that had already been leaked to the press. The study noted that Snyder's ineligible squad had leaked different emails, documents and photographs successful an effort to discredit respective different legislature witnesses who made allegations against the team.

"The committee's probe recovered that the NFL was alert of Mr. Snyder's surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of his accusers passim the Wilkinson investigation," according to the committee report.

In his testimony, Allen told investigators that helium interpreted the email "leak" arsenic an effort by Snyder "to nonstop a message" to Allen that helium "be careful," and that Snyder "owns maine with these emails, which impact my co-workers, the alumni, my household and friends."

Ultimately, the study concludes, "Many of the emails that Mr. Snyder leaked were unrelated to the Committee's probe oregon were presented successful a misleading mode truthful arsenic to connote wrongdoing."

Committee says league efforts aided Snyder

The study says investigators were hamstrung by the league and the squad refusing to merchandise arsenic galore arsenic 40,000 documents related to the Wilkinson investigation.

In February, the committee released the contents of a antecedently concealed "common-interest agreement" betwixt the league and the squad that it had obtained. At slightest 1 root adjacent to the probe calls the statement "very unusual" and not a thing often done wrong the league. As ESPN reported successful February, the statement fundamentally gave Snyder veto powerfulness implicit the merchandise of immoderate documents oregon accusation related to the Wilkinson investigation.

At the time, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN that "the League, and not the team, has and volition find which accusation it is successful a presumption to produce."

But the committee's last study gives aggregate examples of however Snyder and the squad "exerted privilege with the NFL's merchandise of information" by preventing the merchandise of not lone Wilkinson's findings, but galore different documents, including respective PowerPoint presentations made by the squad to the NFL and Wilkinson, videos containing the outtakes of the cheerleader calendar shoots and a 2018 quality resources audit showing deficiencies successful the team's HR department.

The committee besides was incapable to get a confidential colony relating to Snyder's alleged intersexual battle of the pistillate connected his level successful April 2009, present the taxable of Mary Jo White's investigation.

"The NFL became cooperative successful hiding what was happening by entering a ineligible common-interest statement that truly silenced each the of the enactment trying to code it," Maloney said.

The committee study details however Snyder's attorneys tried to forestall Wilkinson from interviewing the erstwhile pistillate worker who accused Snyder. The study states Snyder and the squad would not merchandise her from the statement she signed, preventing Wilkinson from interviewing her.

The study cites ESPN's study successful October that elaborate however the woman's lawyer had "flatly rejected" an connection from Reed Smith attorneys of a "seven figure" sum if she agreed "not to talk to anyone astir her allegations against Snyder and her colony with the team." Snyder's attorneys person denied offering further wealth to his accuser successful speech for her silence.

Lawyers for the NFL told the committee investigators that portion the league was alert of a "dispute" that squad had with an employee, the squad did not disclose "the circumstantial quality of this allegation" for much than 10 years, and lone aft the Washington Post began detailing issues of intersexual harassment wrong the franchise successful 2020. But the study notes that the Wilkinson probe recovered nary usurpation of league policies for failing to study a intersexual battle allegation.

In its conclusion, the committee asserts that the NFL is not funny successful protecting its employees from workplace harassment, highlighting 3 different scandals successful caller years: allegations of intersexual and radical harassment by erstwhile Carolina Panthers proprietor Jerry Richardson; complaints that Las Vegas Raiders proprietor Mark Davis ignored allegations of a hostile enactment environment; and revelations, archetypal revealed successful an ESPN report, that Dallas Cowboys proprietor Jerry Jones paid $2.4 cardinal to resoluteness allegations that longtime elder enforcement Richard Dalrymple secretly recorded Cowboys cheerleaders portion they were undressing and taking "upskirt" images of Charlotte Jones Anderson, Jones' daughter. Dalrymple, who denied the allegations, retired aft a 32-year vocation with the squad days earlier the report.

The NFL "has failed to instrumentality cardinal steps to support employees oregon forestall workplace misconduct from occurring crossed the league," the study says.

According to an interior papers obtained by the Committee, the NFL's reporting requirements bash not see "workplace complaints of intersexual harassment" including "non-physical intersexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation" to beryllium "conduct that undermines oregon puts astatine hazard the integrity of the NFL, NFL clubs oregon NFL personnel" nether the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy.

Rather, the committee concluded, "The NFL's ongoing nonaccomplishment to instrumentality workplace misconduct earnestly is compounded by its ain policies that are designed to support the involvement of nine owners."

What's next?

Committee staffers recommended that Congress should necessitate the NFL and its clubs "demonstrate compliance with authorities and national employment laws arsenic a information to proceed to payment from national antitrust exemptions arsenic good arsenic tax-exempt bonds utilized to concern operation and renovation of sports stadiums."

Several legislature measures person travel retired of the Commanders investigation. Democratic committee subordinate Jackie Speier of California co-sponsored authorities successful February entitled "No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act" that would destruct taxation breaks utilized by nonrecreational sports teams. Chairwoman Maloney introduced a measure to necessitate employers to springiness anterior announcement and person consent to instrumentality and administer nonrecreational images of employees, and to prohibit the usage of non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements to forestall oregon interfere with an employee's quality to disclose harassment, favoritism oregon retaliation successful the workplace.

The aboriginal of that authorities is uncertain. Speier is retiring and Maloney mislaid her superior contention successful August, portion Democrats mislaid the House bulk successful November. Republican James Comer of Kentucky has already indicated that the Republican enactment has nary involvement successful pursuing the probe immoderate further erstwhile helium becomes the caller seat of the Oversight Committee successful January.

"This has go a tremendously important contented to America," Maloney says. "The NFL is 1 of our astir respected corporations. It employs a batch of people. Many radical look up to them arsenic relation models and they should beryllium mounting a modular of treating their women and men with respect."