Dan Snyder declines to testify before House Committee on Oversight and Reform; Roger Goodell expected to appear

Update: Roger Goodell will appear before the Committee virtually

Dan Snyder, through a letter from his lawyers, has officially declined the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s request for him to appear on June 22nd. They have been investigating the toxic workplace that Snyder oversaw for over two decades, and new accusations of sexual harassment, as well as financial improprieties that came out during their investigation.

I respectfully submit this letter in further response to your June 1, 2022 letter requesting that my client Dan Snyder appear for a hearing on June 22, 2022. On June 6, 2022, I responded by letter to the Committee’s request to request additional information about the scope of the Committee’s inquiry in light of ongoing investigations encompassing substantially similar topics. I also stated that Mr. Snyder remains fully willing to assist the Committee in its investigation, and expressed my hope that we could find a mutually agreeable date on which Mr. Snyder would be able to provide testimony to the Committee assuming that the concerns outlined below are addressed.

I appreciate that the Committee’s staff promptly responded to my letter and were able to speak the next day regarding Mr. Snyder’s questions and concerns. Regrettably, however, the Committee declined to provide the information reasonably requested in the June 6 letter, or to provide assurances that would allay the concerns about the hearing. The Committee also stated that it is not willing to consider changing the date of the hearing, despite the fact that Mr. Snyder has a longstanding Commanders-related business conflict and is out of the country on the first and only date the Committee has proposed for the hearing. The Committee instead insisted on a yes-or-no response from Mr. Snyder as to whether he would appear for the hearing at the appointed time. Although Mr. Snyder remains willing to cooperate with the Committee—as he has done in the past— for the reasons set forth below, he is unable to accept the Committee’s invitation to testify at the scheduled hearing.

Washington reportedly offered to send a knowledgeable witness who was in a far better position to answer questions about the workplace culture. This was obviously declined by the Committee. Snyder has long-standing plans to be out of country on June 22nd, but it took him weeks to officially decline the Committee’s request.

Statement from the attorneys representing over 40 former employees:

A source close to Dan Snyder says the Committee were the ones not cooperating...

It hasn’t been officially announced, but Roger Goodell is expected to appear before the Committee and continue his job of protecting the shield and the 32 ownership groups that control it. The Committee can subpoena Snyder to force him to appear, but they have not done that at this point.