The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform has invited NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder to appear at a hearing later this month as part of the Congressional investigation into the team's workplace conduct.
Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney and Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi said Wednesday they sent letters to the league and team requesting the presence of Goodell and Snyder on June 22.
"Since we launched our investigation in October, the committee's goal has been to uncover the truth about the culture of harassment and abuse at the Washington Commanders, to hold accountable those responsible, and to better protect workers across the country," Maloney said in a statement.
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said Wednesday the league had received the committee's invitation that morning and that it would "respond directly in a timely manner."
"The NFL has cooperated extensively throughout the committee's lengthy investigation of the Washington commanders, including by producing more than 460,000 pages of documents and responding to numerous questions in writing and in conversations with the committee's staff," McCarthy said in a statement.
Washington released the following statement Wednesday afternoon, via NFL Network's Tom Pelissero: "The Commanders have assisted the NFL in cooperating with all prior requests from the House Oversight and Reform Committee. We look forward to responding directly to the Committee's invitation in a timely manner."
Congress launched an investigation into the Washington franchise's workplace misconduct in Oct. 2021 after the league did not release a report detailing the findings of an independent probe into the matter.
Washington hired lawyer Beth Wilkinson in the summer of 2020 to look into allegations of sexual harassment and other improper conduct within the organization. The league later took over that investigation and fined the team $10 million in July and said the culture at the club was "toxic" and ownership and senior officials paid little attention to sexual harassment and other workplace issues.
Snyder has stepped away from day-to-day operations, but the lack of a written report prompted Congress' inquiry.
At a Congressional roundtable in February, new allegations of misconduct against Snyder emerged during testimony from a former team employee. In response to the allegations made during the roundtable, Snyder issued a statement apologizing for "misconduct" that previously took place within his organization but said any allegations "leveled against me personally" were "outright lies."
After testimony from former employees, Congress' investigation also expanded to the organization's finances. In April, the U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission saying it found evidence the Commanders might have engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct for more than a decade by withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans.
Washington has denied any allegations of financial impropriety.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
