The US Congress gives NFL Feb 14th deadline for release of all documents in Commanders probe

If the stand off between Congress, the NFL and Washington Commanders' owner Dan Snyder was serious before then things just stepped up a notch with an ultimatum.

Congress gives the NFL a February 14th deadline

According to a letter sent by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday, the league has until February 14th to release the full findings of the investigation into the Washington Commanders' workplace environment. The letter also stated any failure to act accordingly would result in congress using "alternate means of obtaining compliance."

In response to the letter, the NFL's spokesperson Brian McCarthy statement on Friday, implying that the league was in fact being cooperative. "We have received the Committee's letter," McCarthy said. "We will review it and respond to them. We will continue to cooperate, as we have throughout the investigation. To date, we have shared nearly 80,000 pages of documents and made many others available for the Committee to review, in addition to responding to questions from the Committee, both in writing and in the course of numerous discussions. The Committee has requested many documents which are clearly protected by the attorney-client privilege or are attorney-work product. The League, and not the team, has and will determine which information it is in a position to produce."

Dan Snyder and the NFL are trying to sidetrack Congress

The attorney for Commanders owner Dan Snyder, Jordan Siev also gave a statement on Friday, echoing the league's position. "All remaining non-privileged emails are being provided to the Committee shortly. Regarding today's letter from the Committee to the NFL, neither Mr. Snyder nor the team has ever done anything to block the Committee from receiving any documents it has requested from the NFL that are not expressly protected by attorney-client privilege or attorney work product," Siev said.

Siev's comments are perhaps more damning than they are helpful to his client's cause as scrutiny continues to intensify regarding what appears to be a "joint legal strategy" between the league and Snyder as indicated by the released documents. In what was termed a 'common interest agreement,' signed just days after the league stated it would be taking over the investigation, it was stipulated that any information exchanged as a result of the investigation would be treated as privileged and therefore could not be released without the consent of both the league and the team. To make matters even darker, the NFL withdrew from the agreement in October of 2021, which is approximately when Congress notified the league that it would be conducting it's own investigation. With that act, the league essentially created what Congress referred to as a "legal limbo" thereby preventing the release of documents.

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As for the Wilkinson investigation itself, it has also been reported that though the agreement between attorney Beth Wilkinson's firm and the league asked for a written report of all findings to be produced, Goodell later requested an oral report as he believed it "would better preserve the anonymity assurances given to many of the witnesses and the confidentiality of the investigative information, findings, and recommendations that Ms. Wilkinson shared with the Commissioner during those briefings."

How did Dan Snyder get here?

It was back in July 2020, when Snyder commissioned an investigation into the team's workplace environment after numerous complaints about sexual harassment. As mentioned before that investigation was later taken over by the NFL - in late August of last year to be precise. Upon conclusion of the investigation in July of 2021, the league fined Washington $10 million. At that point Snyder temporarily gave control of the day-to-day operations of the team to his wife, Tanya.

Concerning more recent events, on Thursday, Snyder became a focal point after serious allegations were made against him in a congressional roundtable, by a number of women who are former employees of the franchise. Snyder was quick to deny all claims made against. Indeed his attorney even issued a secondary statement on Friday addressing the comments of one specific former employee Tiffani Johnston. "The former team employee who spoke for the first time yesterday resigned through a thankful and cheery resignation note more than 13 years ago - citing her '5 and a half wonderful years working for the Washington Redskins.' We understand that she was approached by the Wilkinson law firm in 2020 as part of its investigation, but she refused to be interviewed. The un-sworn allegations she made for the first time yesterday against Mr. Snyder are false, and have been categorically denied by Mr. Snyder."

Siev is of course referring to Johnston's account of an event that occurred at a team dinner. The former cheer leader who later became a marketing manager, stated that Snyder attempted touched her on her thigh in a suggestive way without her consent. Johnston also went on to detail another instance in which Snyder attempted to push her into his limousine with his hand on her lower back. Incidentally, The NFL said on Thursday it will review and consider Johnston's allegations "as we would any other new allegations regarding workplace misconduct" and would "determine any further action as appropriate."