The Washington Commanders are under criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney's office in Virginia's Eastern District, according to a new report from ESPN published Wednesday.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the ESPN report says prosecutors are looking into allegations the Commanders engaged in financial improprieties. The investigation "was triggered by a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent to the Federal Trade Commission" in April that alleged "deceptive business practices."
The letter, which also went to the attorneys general of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. has also triggered investigations by state-level authorities.
The Commanders and the NFL declined to comment. The U.S. attorney's office and the FTC also declined to comment to ESPN. Commanders attorney John Brownlee denied the report in a statement to ESPN.
"It is not surprising that ESPN is publishing more falsehoods based solely on anonymous sources -- given today's announcement," the statement said. "...We are confident that, after these agencies have had a chance to review the documents and complete their work, they will come to the same conclusion as the team's internal review -- that these allegations are simply untrue."
Don Van Natta, Seth Wickersham, and Tisha Thompson, who wrote Tuesday's report, were also the reporters behind ESPN's bombshell story from October about Commanders owner Dan Snyder. The Commanders denied that reporting as well, including, denying claims Van Natta said their reporting did not make.
Tuesday's report also came hours after it was reported and later announced the Commanders' co-owners Dan and Tanya Snyder had hired Bank of America Securities to "consider potential transactions" after reports emerged the Snyders appear to be preparing to sell the team.
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The House committee's letter to the FTC indicated they had found evidence of deceptive business practices over the span of more than a decade. The allegations outlined by the committee included withholding ticket revenue and refundable deposits from fans. This was supported by testimony of former employees, emails, and documents.
The testimony and emails of a longtime vice president of sales, Jason Friedman, indicarted ticket sales for Washington football games were shifted to other events to "juice" revenue and keep it off the books shared with the NFL.
The allegeations in Friedman's testimony has been refuted by attorney's represntatives.
"The Washington Commanders have fully cooperated with federal and state investigators since the House Oversight Review Committee sent its letter to the FTC on April 12, 2022 -- now nearly 7 months ago," Brownlee's statement to ESPN said. "The team has produced tens of thousands of records in response to the requests. The investigations, which ESPN's anonymous sources have mischaracterized, are premised on the same baseless allegations made by a disgruntled former employee, Jason Friedman, who also is represented by the law firm of Katz Banks."
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