Washington Commanders Hindering Access to Investigation Documents, NFL Tells Congress

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league as a whole have received criticism for not publicly releasing the findings of an investigation into the Washington Commanders' team culture, but the league said in a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that the team is blocking access to some of the documents pertaining to the investigation.

Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post reported Thursday that the letter was sent to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who sent Goodell a letter in October seeking more transparency into the investigation.

Attorney Beth Wilkinson, who conducted the investigation, submitted oral findings instead of written ones, and the NFL defended that decision as well in its letter.

"It is simply not correct to suggest that submission of a written report is either necessary or the universal practice of other companies or the NFL," the league wrote. "The NFL concluded that an oral report was appropriate, given the sensitivity of the subject matter and confidentiality promises to those who participated in the investigation."

After Wilkinson submitted the oral findings, Washington was fined $10 million and owner Daniel Snyder stepped away from some of the team's day-to-day responsibilities while his wife, Tanya Snyder, took over as co-CEO.

The NFL explained the team is blocking access to some documents after the two sides entered into a "common interest agreement" when the league took over oversight of the investigation from Washington so it wouldn't have to restart the entire process.

The league said it attempted to access approximately 109,000 team documents that were in possession of a third-party vendor, but that vendor did not share them "unless the team consented because of its concern that it could be sued by the team or its owner. The NFL promptly directed the team to provide its consent to the vendor, but the team repeatedly has refused to do so."

The letter also suggested "in no way is the NFL obstructing or seeking to obstruct the Committee's investigation, and valid assertions of applicable privileges by the NFL should not be characterized as doing anything of the sort."

Jordan Siev, who is the attorney for Dan Snyder, released a statement in response:

This comes as new allegations against Dan Snyder have been made public.

Liz Clarke and Jhabvala of the Washington Post reported last Thursday that Tiffani Mattingly Johnston, who is a former marketing manager and cheerleader for the team, said Snyder sexually harassed her. She also said she was told not to tell anyone about his actions and did not have a readily available option to report them to human resources.

Snyder released a statement addressing the allegations:

Maske and Jhabvala noted the Commanders announced they would investigate Johnston's allegations, but the NFL said it would conduct the investigation instead. Goodell said Washington conducting an investigation into itself in this instance would not be appropriate.