Topline
A congressional probe released Thursday alleged Dan Snyder, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, oversaw a campaign of intimidation to prevent the release of information detailed sexual misconduct allegedly committed by Snyder and other male team executives against female employees—and the NFL helped Snyder in his effort to preserve his image amid the scandal.
Dan Snyder, pictured here in 2019, allegedly misled lawmakers during his testimony this summer.
Key Facts
The 79-page report from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, based largely on testimony from former Commanders employees, follows a year-long probe by the panel after the NFL declined to make the findings of its own independent investigation into Snyder public.
But lawmakers say the league’s initial probe was far from independent, with Snyder allegedly intimidating witnesses throughout the NFL investigation by offering “hush money” to multiple former female employees and sending private investigators to the residences of other employees.The committee said the league declined to act when presented with evidence of such interference.
Former team employees told lawmakers “Snyder endorsed a toxic culture at the Commanders in which sexual misconduct, exploitation of women, bullying of men, and other inappropriate behavior was commonplace, and that he was a hands-on owner who had a role in nearly every organizational decision,” according to the report.
The panel also alleged Snyder offered “misleading” testimony to Congress, answering more than 100 times he did not remember what occurred during his July deposition behind closed doors.
In response to Forbes’ inquiry, Commanders spokeswoman Jean Medina forwarded a memo dated Wednesday from Republican members of the House committee suggesting the probe was a political hit job from Democrats interested in “the removal of an unfavored owner and the installation of the owner of a left-leaning newspaper sympathetic to the Democratic party,” referring to the billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, who is reportedly interested in buying the team from Snyder.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy stuck by the league’s handling of the Commanders situation in a statement to Forbes, writing the NFL “has cooperated extensively with the Committee’s investigation” and the league’s probe into Snyder was in fact “independent and thorough” and free of interference.
Chief Critic
Thursday’s report is “the predictable culmination of [the] one-sided approach” by congressional investigators who “were only interested in chasing headlines by pursuing one side of the story,” John Brownlee and Stuart Nash, attorneys representing the Washington Commanders, wrote in a Thursday statement emailed to Forbes by Medina. The lawyers claimed the committee has not complied with their requests to release the full transcription of Snyder’s testimony and criticized the lawmakers for suggesting Snyder “prevented witnesses from coming forward [but not identifying] a single witness who did not come forward or who suffered a single adverse consequence for having done so.”
Key Background
The NFL fined Snyder $10 million in July 2021 but let him keep the team, after it investigated claims of a toxic workplace teeming with sexual misconduct made by his former female employees in a 2020 Washington Post exposé. Snyder hired Bank of America last month to explore a partial or full sale of the team as backlash against his ownership built. The 15 women who came forward to the Post at the time did not accuse Snyder directly of sexual misconduct, but said he failed to take proper measures to root out harassment toward women among high-ranking male executives. Former Commanders employee Rachel Engleson told the panel enduring sexual harrassment was an “unavoidable rite of passage” for women working for the team, according to Thursday’s report, while former Commanders cheerleader Tiffani Johnston alleged Snyder personally harassed her.
Forbes Valuations
We estimate Snyder to be worth $4.9 billion. The Commanders are the sixth-most valuable NFL team with a $5.6 billion valuation, according to our most recent calculations.
Further Reading
D.C. Attorney General Sues NFL And Goodell Over Commanders Misconduct Investigation (Forbes)
Billionaire NFL Owner Dan Snyder Reportedly Gathered ‘Dirt’ On Roger Goodell And NFL Owners (Forbes)
Dan Snyder Hires Bank Of America To Sell Washington Commanders (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/12/08/billionaire-commanders-owner-dan-snyder-worked-to-silence-sexual-misconduct-accusers-house-report-alleges/