The Washington Commanders could soon be consumed by a more expansive investigation from the congressional committee that's been investigating the NFL's handling of sexual harassment claims inside Washington's workplace.
On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform — which has reviewed more than 80,000 pages of documents, and interviewed witnesses in an ongoing inquiry into the team's workplace culture and the NFL's subsequent handling of Beth Wilkinson's investigation — is now also looking into allegations of financial improprieties under Daniel Snyder's ownership.
The Post indicated the financial investigation "remains behind closed doors and among the highest levels" of the 45-person committee, adding that several members of the panel had heard of speculation about the committee expanding its investigation but "it remains at such a sensitive phase they do not know details."
Later Thursday, A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported the congressional committee would indeed be expanding the scope of its investigation to include potential financial improprieties, saying the committee is "primed to use its subpoena power to delve into the finances of the team and owner Dan Snyder."
Perez added that investigators are now "exploring whether the Commanders used 'two books' of financial information that paint different pictures of the team's money situation." The Front Office Sports report was unable to identify the timing or number of subpoenas expected to transpire from the expanded investigation.
Among the details investigators hope to uncover through a series of interviews, Front Office Sports reports the committee is seeking information on whether the debt load undertaken by Snyder — when he moved to purchase the remaining 40 percent of his team a year ago — could be impacting the team's finances.
Additionally, the committee is seeking interviews and documents "related to allegations that the Commanders used deceptive accounting practices," according to Front Office Sports. It's also investigating allegations it received of pay disparity between male and female employees, Perez writes.
The Commanders have categorically denied any suggestion of financial impropriety "of any kind" to both Front Office Sports and The Washington Post, saying, "We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee's work."
The Commanders also told The Post it was "not aware of any investigation by the House Oversight Committee regarding financial matters, despite vague and unsubstantiated claims today by anonymous sources."
The NFL is conducting its own investigation of Snyder's organization, the league's second in the past 19 months. The first was spearheaded by Wilkinson and resulted in the league administering a $10 million fine to the organization and Snyder removing himself from day-to-day operations of the team, replaced by his wife.
Tanya Snyder was installed as co-CEO days prior to Wilkinson's findings being announced, though the details of those findings were never made public. Wilkinson was asked by the NFL to deliver an oral report after a nearly year-long investigation into sexual harassment claims made by former team employees.
The NFL's current investigation into organization began after a public roundtable hosted by the Oversight Committee on Feb. 3 (one day after the team announced its new 'Commanders' moniker) led to a new allegation against Dan Snyder directly.
Tiffani Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing manager for the team, told the committee that Snyder harassed her at a team dinner by placing his hand on her thigh underneath the dinner table. Later that same evening, she said, is when Snyder attempted to "aggressively" push her into his limo, and that Snyder only relented after his also-present attorney insisted Snyder's course of action was "a very bad idea, Dan."
Snyder attempted to launch his own investigation into Johnston's claims — after publicly dismissing them as "outright lies" — prompting a rare public rebuke from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who told reporters at his annual pre-Super Bowl press conference, "I do not see any way that a team can do its own investigation of itself."
"That's something that we would do," Goodell said. "We would do it with an outside expert that would be able to help us come to the conclusion of what the facts were and what really, truly happened so we can make the right decision from there."
The NFL went on to hire Mary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to lead the latest probe into Snyder's organization.
Read the full reports from Front Office Sports and The Post.
