House Oversight Committee to subpoena Commanders owner Dan Snyder
By Jerry Trotta
It was never expected that Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder would fulfill the House Oversight Committee’s invitation to testify before the committee at Wednesday’s hearing concerning the team’s toxic workplace culture.
It appears Snyder had a good reason to skip the hearing — an internet tracking service has his $180 million yacht docked in Cannes — because Wednesday was a total disaster for the embattled owner.
According to investigative findings by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Snyder and his lawyers launched a “shadow investigation” that targeted former team employees and their attorneys as a means to discredit and influence the NFL’s investigation into the team’s workplace misconduct.
Snyder had claimed he’d cooperate with both Congress’ and the NFL’s investigation into allegations of sexual assault and financial improprieties. In light of his lack of cooperation and skipping Wednesday’s hearing, Chairwoman Carolyn Maroney revealed her plans to subpoena Snyder to testify next week.
Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney of the Committee on Oversight and Reform announces her intent to issue a subpoena to Commanders owner Dan Snyder. pic.twitter.com/XDYNONfNAi
— NBC Sports Washington (@NBCSWashington) June 22, 2022
Commanders owner Dan Snyder will be subpoenaed to testify before the House Oversight Committee.
"“Rather than show up and take responsibility for his actions, he chose to skip town,” Maloney said before the Committee. “Apparently, Mr. Snyder is in France, where he has docked his luxury yacht near a resort town. That should tell you just how much respect he has for women in the workplace.”“This lack of transparency suggests that rather than protecting women, the NFL is hoping to sweep this controversy under the rug — just as powerful men like Dan Snyder have done for decades.”"
Maloney isn’t letting Snyder off easy, and nor should she after the disturbing report about that surfaced late Tuesday night.
Just hours before the hearing, the Washington Post reported Snyder faced sexual assault allegations in 2009 and Washington paid the woman, a former employee of the team, $1.6 million to settle her claims. The woman “accused Snyder of asking her for sex, groping her and attempting to remove her clothes” in a private area on the back of the team plane during a return flight from Las Vegas.
While Snyder was hiding in the French Mediterranean, commissioner Roger Goodell testified, but he didn’t exactly go scorched earth on the Commanders owner like many hoped he would as he continues to undermine the NFL.
"“If the NFL is unwilling to hold Mr. Snyder accountable, then I am prepared to do so,” Maloney said. “The Committee will not be deterred in its investigation to uncover the truth of workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders.”"