Report: Dan Snyder Lobbying NFL to Not Make Commanders Investigation Findings Public

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder reportedly doesn't want the NFL to make public the findings from the investigation into sexual misconduct allegations made by former cheerleader Tiffani Johnston.

Per ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham, Snyder and his lawyers are lobbying the league to limit the release of the investigation being conducted by former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White.

One source close to Snyder told Van Natta and Wickersham that Snyder's odds of burying the report "are the same as his odds of trading for Patrick Mahomes."

In a statement provided to ESPN, a Commanders spokesperson called the story "completely false and a blatant fabrication by someone with no actual knowledge of this matter."

Johnston, who also worked as a marketing and events coordinator with the Commanders, levied new allegations of sexual harassment against Snyder when she spoke during a congressional hearing in January 2022.

The allegations from Johnston came as Congress was investigating previous accusations of a toxic workplace. She told the committee she was "'strategically' placed next to Snyder at a work dinner 'not to discuss business, but to allow him, Dan Snyder, to place his hand on my thigh under the table,'" per ESPN's Tisha Thompson.

White was initially hired by the NFL in February 2022 to investigate Johnston's allegations. Her role expanded to include also looking into allegations of financial improprieties made by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight & Reform.

Per Van Natta and Wickersham, White's work appears "all but done," she's been conducting final interviews with key witnesses over the past several weeks and has told lawyers and witnesses involved in the case "she expects her entire report to be made public," not just her findings."

Talks between Snyder's lawyers, NFL lawyers and executives over the release of White's findings have also "intensified" recently.

Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported in February 2022 the league intends to make the findings from White's investigation public.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters on March 28 he would like to see White's investigation released publicly:

The NFL came under scrutiny for not releasing information from Beth Wilkinson's investigation into the Commanders amid allegations of a hostile workplace that was completed in October 2021.

A December 2022 report from the House Oversight Committee determined the NFL "buried" Wilkinson's findings and Snyder gave "misleading testimony" and "permitted and participated in" troubling conduct.

"If the findings that are released are the complete findings, drafted by Mary Jo White and not the league, that's one thing," attorney Lisa Banks, who represents several witnesses, told Van Natta and Wickersham. "But if what we see is a truncated, watered-down version of the findings, drafted by the league, similar to what we saw with [attorney] Beth Wilkinson's report, we have a big problem."

In April, The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan and Ben Standig reported the $6.05 billion bid to purchase the Commanders from a group led by Josh Harris includes language that would "partly indemnify" Dan Snyder from future potential litigation.

According to Van Natta and Wickersham, there are "ongoing questions" about the legal indemnification but Snyder's "main leverage is time" to potentially drag out the sale process in order to get what he wants.

Kaplan reported on Wednesday there is optimism the sale will get approved, but the process could take longer than normal because there are roughly 17 limited partners involved with Harris who need to be vetted and Harris has proposed borrowing money secured against the Commanders franchise and other sports teams he owns in other leagues.