WASHINGTON — Editor's Note: This video is from July 2022.
Nearly a year later, the Washington Commanders' workplace investigation could be wrapping up soon, just as a former chair of the House Oversight Committee is highlighting his concerns with the Congressional investigation.
Tom Davis, who led the committee for four years and now works for the firm representing the Commanders, wrote a nine-page letter to the current chair of the committee. Davis says in the letter that the committee has not requested to interview any current employees of the Commanders among other fundamentals that could make the case more insightful.
According to Davis, the investigation into the franchise "has not been fair, thorough, or bipartisan." He continued to say that the committee has not sought the truth but instead has set a singular purpose - to destroy Dan Synder and drive him out of the NFL.
"I believe the Committee will fail in its effort to push Mr. Snyder from the NFL—principally because Mr. Snyder is innocent of the allegations against him—I harbor no illusions that this Committee will change its present course or behavior," Davis said.
Snyder has been accused of not protecting women in the workplace including hiding a 2009 settlement with a former team employee who accused him of sexual assault.
In his letter, Davis said claims that easily obtainable evidence has been excluded from the investigation process. According to the letter, the NFL provided evidence in an investigation that:
- Shows efforts of Snyder and the team to uncover evidence of unlawful conduct directed against him and his family were separate from the NFL’s workplace investigation;
- In addition, the NFL was aware of those efforts;
- The NFL and its investigator found that there was in fact misconduct directed against Snyder. This misconduct resulted in a lifetime prohibition on one of Snyder’s former minority-share partners from ever again possessing an ownership interest in an NFL team.
"I believe that the public has a right to know the truth about this NFL franchise and why the Committee has decided to insulate itself from highly relevant information that has been available from the inception of the investigation, and that runs counter to the Committee’s preconceived narrative," Davis said.
In the letter, Davis says the committee has highly publicized that Snyder participated in sexual misconduct with former Washington cheerleader and marketing manager Tiffani Johnston. He allegedly put his hand on her leg and then attempted to guide her into his limousine. Snyder has testified to the committee that he does not recall ever meeting Johnson. The NFL is still investigating this incident.
The Oversight Committee says they will not stop the investigation, and a spokesperson reiterated to WUSA9 that the focus of the investigation has been to "uncover the truth about the decades-long hostile workplace culture at the Commanders."