A Congressional committee has taken an interest in the NFL's investigation of the Washington Football Team's workplace culture.
The House Oversight Committee and one of its subcommittees on Thursday sent a request to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for additional information on the compromising emails, which were discovered during the course of an investigation into the WFT's workplace culture in the wake of allegations of widespread sexual harassment.
The investigation included some 150 interviews and uncovered 650,000 emails, but the findings were not presented to the commissioner in a written report.
In a five-page letter to Goodell, House Democrats are asking for the league to produce “all documents and communications" the NFL obtained during Beth Wilkinson's investigation into Washington Football, the management, owners, and, any other matter "relating or resulting" from the investigation by Nov. 4.
In the letter, the committee expresses "concerns" about revelations in the emails.
“We have serious concerns about what appears to be widespread abusive workplace conduct at the WFT and about the NFL’s handling of this matter,” Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, wrote in the letter to the commissioner.
“Communications between league management and WFT leadership also raise questions about the league’s asserted impartiality in these investigations," the letter said, according to the Associated Press.
The trove of some 650,000 emails has not been released publicly, but a select handful of messages been leaked to the media.
Several such exchanges prominently feature former Raiders coach Jon Gruden, who resigned in disgrace after he was exposed as having expressed bigotry on several occasions in his messages with former WFT president Bruce Allen.
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An NFL spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter, and said the league shared the committee's concern and looked forward to discussing the matter.
The leaked emails involving Gruden, Allen, and other figures such as league counsel Jeff Pash have prompted calls, including from the lawyers representing dozens of former WFT cheerleaders, for the league to release all of the emails. The league has so far declined.
“The NFL’s lack of transparency about the problems it recently uncovered raise questions about the seriousness with which it has addressed bigotry, racism, sexism, and homophobia — setting troubling precedent for other workplaces,” the letter said.
The workplace investigation resulted in a $10 million fine and prompted owner Dan Snyder to step away from day-to-day operations. His wife, Tanya Snyder, was promoted to CEO.
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