The U.S. House Committee on Oversight & Reform currently is conducting a hearing on workplace issues within the Washington Commanders organization, the league’s investigation of the situation, and the failure to make any facts, findings, or recommendations public. In a 29-page memo released on Wednesday morning, the Committee accused Commanders owner Daniel Snyder of conducting a “shadow investigation” aimed at discrediting accusers and pushing blame for the situation toward former team president Bruce Allen.
The “shadow investigation” resulted in, per the Committee, a “100-slide dossier with emails, text messages, telephone records, and social media posts from journalists, victims, and witnesses who had made credible public accusations of harassment against the Commanders.”
The Committee contends that Snyder’s “shadow investigation” resulted in private investigators being sent to the homes of team cheerleaders. The Committee also claims that Snyder gathered “thousands” of emails aimed at proving that Allen, not Snyder, had created the toxic culture within the organization.
Those emails included the documents eventually leaked to the media, sent and received by former Raiders coach Jon Gruden and by NFL general counsel Jeff Pash.
The Committee also accuses Snyder of using the court system, under the guise of pursuing evidence for a defamation case filed in India, in order to harvest evidence aimed at assisting this “shadow investigation.”
More accusations undoubtedly will be made during Wednesday’s hearing. It’s just gotten started, and the accusations are already flying.