The owner of the Washington Commanders conducted a "shadow investigation" of allegations that he had fostered a toxic work culture within his organization and worked closely with the NFL to monitor and bury the findings from an official internal investigation.
The NFL commissioner was scheduled to testify on the morning that the US House Oversight Committee released a 29-page memo on its findings.
The committee's eight-month investigation found evidence that Snyder used subpoena authority available to parties involved in overseas lawsuits to get correspondence from Bruce Allen and other former employees. According to the memo, the goal was to build a case that Allen was to blame for the team's toxic workplace environment and that former employees were trying to make him look bad.
He told the committee he wouldn't be in the country for the hearing.
The NFL gave a copy of the prepared remarks to the committee, in which they stated that the workplace in Washington was "unprofessional and unacceptable in numerous respects."
On Wednesday, representatives for the Commanders did not give a response. The spokesman for the Republican ranking member of the committee wouldn't comment on the memo.
According to the memo, written by committee chair Carolyn Maloney (D-New York), the "100-slide dossier" was compiled in November 2020 and appears to be based on private text messages, emails, phone logs and call transcripts.
The goal of the presentation was to show the NFL that he was not responsible for the Commanders, according to the memo.
Some of the private information used in the dossier was obtained by the lawyer of the candidate. Media Entertainment Arts Worldwide is based in India. According to the memo, "Snyder used a powerful litigation tool to force phone records, emails, and other documents from former employees and other individuals."
The memo states that Mr. Snyder's focus was not on finding the sources of the MEAWW articles but on those who were behind the Washington Post exposés.
Several former employees and the wife of a former Commanders general manager are listed by committee investigators. A federal judge ruled that the document requests went far beyond the defamation of MEAWW.
The subpoena attempt may be less of a genuine effort to obtain evidence supportive of the claims in the Indian Action than it is to burden and harass people who may have acted as sources.
According to committee investigators, Allen was targeted with a petition filed in Arizona, where the documents would show that he was a source for reports made by the Washington Post. According to investigators, Snyder's attorneys collected 400,000 emails from Allen's inactive Commanders email account and gave them to the league.
In order to demonstrate that Bruce Allen had created a toxic environment at the Washington Commanders, the NFL's attorneys identified the specific inappropriate Bruce Allen emails in an attempt to demonstrate that. Last year, those emails were leaked to the media, leading to the firing of Gruden.
According to the memo, the league received at least 16 briefings from the law firm, at least four of which were written, and at least two personally briefings by the commissioner. In his prepared remarks, he said that they did not get a written report.
According to the memo, David Pauken, the Commanders' chief operating officer from 2001 to 2006, told the committee that he personally made the decision to fire female employees who engaged in consensual relationships with male employees, despite knowing about the harassment.
According to the memo, Mr. Pauken testified that Mr. Snyder mocked him for opposing his vision for the cheerleading program.
Pauken told Congress that he was not comfortable with the way cheerleaders are sexualized. The team wanted to offer sponsors and suite holders access to cheerleader photo shoots as an experience that could be sold.
Pauken denied allowing it.
Pauken said that he was asked if he liked girls. Pauken said in his deposition that if you don't like cheerleaders, you might not like girls. I understood where he was going with that.
According to the committee memo, Pauken described how the Commanders cheerleaders were objectified and made fun of. When summoned to the box before the game, Pauken testified that the man remarked to a friend, "Do you think Dave is gay?" to which the friend replied, "Yes he must be gay."
He has to be gay according to the deposition. These cheerleaders are ugly as well. Are you homosexual? You need to be gay. There is a cheerleading squad that looks like this.
Two cheerleaders were fired for engaging in romantic relationships with a former tight end, according to a memo. Pauken testified that when he found out about the relationships, he shared them with the man who decided to fire the cheerleaders.
According to Pauken's deposition, the female employees were fired and the male employee was restricted from having sex with the cheerleaders.
The memo states, "Snyder's decision was part of a pattern of firing female employees who engaged in consensual sexual relationships with male members of the team's football operations."
In his testimony, Pauken said that when it was learned that a member of the coaching staff had groped a public relations employee, Snyder refused to take action against the coach and ordered the employee to stay away from the coach.
Pauken said that he knew the importance of things. We wouldn't disrupt the new coach. The problem would be solved as best we could.
Brian Lafemina, a former chief operating officer, told investigators during his deposition that a woman had reported feeling uncomfortable interacting with Larry Michael, the former "Voice of the Washington Commanders," after he kissed her on the forehead.
Lafemina said that Larry was a sweetheart and would not hurt anyone.
Committee staff stated in their memo that Michael was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple employees and that he was caught on video making lewd remarks about a Commanders intern.
The Washington Post reported allegations against him in 2020.
According to the memo, the former employee who accused the team of financial improprieties during his testimony sent a letter to Congress stating that he witnessed Snyder trying to push another former employee into a limo.
According to the memo, Friedman told congressional investigators that the team's culture encouraged drinking and womanizing.
People were afraid to lose their jobs because of what had happened to other people.
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