House Oversight Committee to end investigation into Dan Snyder
BETHESDA, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - The Congressional investigation into Dan Snyder is likely coming to an end.
Republicans say they will drop the oversight committee's probe once they take official control of the House in January.
With the GOP officially reclaiming control of the House, they'll also control all the committees — including the House Oversight Committee.
In a recent statement, Republican ranking member James Comer said that come January, "it's over."
Attorneys for the Commanders released the following statement in response to Comer's announcement:
"We applaud Representative Comer for his leadership in putting an end to the investigation into a private company, which has been correctly characterized by sitting members of Congress as a ‘farce’ and ‘an abuse of power’ for its ‘reli[ance] on one-sided, unsupported claims.’ The investigation, under the current leadership of the committee, has yet to interview any current Commanders’ employee, and has instead relied largely on a handful of witnesses who have been fired or otherwise left the organization under acrimonious circumstances. The Committee has selectively leaked witness testimony while burying evidence, such as Mr. Snyder's own deposition, that refutes the Committee's pre-conceived narrative. Over a year before the committee announced its investigation Dan and Tanya Snyder acknowledged the deficiencies in the Commanders work environment, apologized for them, and began implementing fundamental and comprehensive reforms to transform the workplace. Over the last two and a half years, the Commanders have transformed the workplace environment and have become a far more diverse and inclusive team, with women and people of color holding more than 40 percent of our senior leadership positions. The Congressional investigation has added nothing of value to this process and, indeed, the independent firm monitoring the improvements in the Commanders' workplace has singled out the investigation as an impediment to further progress. The team looks forward to continuing work to improve its organization while putting this issue behind them."
Congress launched the investigation into the Commanders workplace culture back in 2021. It began after the NFL chose not to release a report on an independent review of the organization.
The team was fined $10 million after that review.
READ MORE: Commanders lawyers slam House committee's investigation
The committee has since looked into several allegations — including sexual harassment claims made by the women who have worked for the team.
Back in June, Rep. Comer said that investigating the Commanders workplace "isn't the function of the committee" as he emphasized the importance of returning the committee to its mission of rooting out waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the federal government.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell testified before the committee and Snyder eventually testified remotely for nearly 11 hours in July. The new Congress won't convene until January, but some kind of report on the investigation from the Democratic Representatives could come before then.
The committee's investigation is just one of the many issues Snyder and the Washington franchise have faced in recent years. Just two weeks ago, the Snyders hired Bank of America to consider possibly selling the team.
Despite the committee saying it will no longer pursue the investigation into the Commanders, Dan Snyder's trouble are far from over. He currently is facing two lawsuits from D.C.'s Attorney General, and is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Virginia.