Dan Snyder remains in the news despite no longer owning the Washington Commanders.
Snyder selling the team to a group led by Josh Harris and including Magic Johnson in July for a North American professional sports record $6.05 billion came with the NFL fining him $60 million for sexual harassment and financial improprieties.
On Wednesday, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform wrote a letter to the Republican chair in charge asking him to refer Snyder to the Department of Justice for lying under oath.
Snyder‘s ownership was under fire long before he and wife Tanya even considered putting the team up for sale. Some centered around a lack of success on the field: two playoff game victories since he bought the team in 1999.
But events away from football put more heat on Snyder, with a series of scandals and investigations that spanned three different team names.
A look at what Snyder has gone through in the past three-plus years to lead to this point:
JULY 2020
Amid a national reckoning over racism in the wake of the George Floyd protests, prominent sponsors FedEx, PepsiCo, Nike and Bank of America called on the team to abandon its old name, which Snyder long vowed never to do. The team launched a review and on July 13 announcing it was giving up the name after 87 years.
Three days later, the Washington Post reported that 15 female former employees said they were sexually harassed during their time with the team.
The team retained attorney Beth Wilkinson’s firm to conduct an independent investigation into workplace conduct, which the NFL then took control of overseeing.
The next day, Snyder vowed to improve the culture inside the organization, and the league said it would wait for Wilkinson’s review before taking any action.
A week later, the club rebranded temporarily as the Washington Football Team, a name that lasted two seasons.
AUGUST 2020
The Post reported additional examples of workplace sexual harassment inside the organization, along with allegations that Snyder was personally involved.
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2021
In late March, Snyder bought out his minority owners, a move that gave his family total control of the team. Snyder’s application for a debt waiver of $450 million was approved by the league’s finance committee and then ownership at-large to make it official.
JULY 2021
The NFL fined the team $10 million and said Snyder would step away from day-to-day operations for several months after Wilkinson’s investigation found Washington’s workplace to be toxic and unprofessional, especially for women.
The team did not lose any draft picks, and no formal suspensions were handed out. The league said Snyder’s wife, Tanya, would assume formal operations while he worked on long-term issues such as the search for a new stadium.
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2021
Amid calls from former employees for the NFL to release the findings of Wilkinson’s investigation, members of the U.S. Congress got involved.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat who is chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, wrote to Goodell on Oct. 21 seeking all documents and communications related to the investigation.
A couple of weeks later, the pair of representatives urged the NFL and the team to release individuals from non-disclosure agreements that would prevent them from discussing sexual harassment and workplace issues at the club.
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022
The House Oversight Committee announced Jan. 27 it would hold a roundtable discussion the following week with former employees to discuss workplace misconduct and sexual harassment.
Washington unveiled its new name as the Commanders on Feb. 2.
During the roundtable the following day, one of the former employees came forward with a new allegation she was sexually harassed by Snyder himself, which he denied. Tiffani Johnston, who worked for the team for eight years starting in 2002 as a cheerleader and marketing manager, told the committee Snyder placed his hand on her thigh without her consent at a team dinner and that he pushed her toward his limousine with his hand on her lower back.
The committee continued to push for the full release of the Wilkinson report, asking Goodell to release the full findings by Feb. 14 and threatening “alternate means of obtaining compliance” if he did not cooperate.
At the Super Bowl in Los Angeles, Goodell defended the NFL‘s use of an oral, not written, report, saying it was done to protect the identity of anyone who wanted to speak to investigators privately, also saying the league would take over an investigation into the new allegation of sexual harassment made against Snyder.
The league hired former U.S. Attorney and Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White to investigate.
APRIL 2022
The House Oversight Committee told the Federal Trade Commission the team may have engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct, and the NFL said it would look into the most serious allegations.
The committee said it found evidence of deceptive business practice over the span of more than a decade, including withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans. A league spokesman said White would review the alleged improprieties, which the team denied a week later in a lengthy letter to the FTC.
JUNE 2022
On June 1, the committee invited Snyder and Goodell to appear at a hearing on workplace culture around the NFL scheduled for later in the month, which it called the next step in the investigation.
Two weeks later, a lawyer representing Snyder said he would not testify.
On June 9, the Virginia General Assembly abandoned for the rest of the year a stadium deal that would have brought the Commanders’ games to the state. The legislation offering hefty tax incentives had already been languishing amid a series of controversies involving the team when an assistant coach called the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol “a dust-up.”
Goodell testified virtually on June 22, and the committee released a document accusing Snyder of conducting a “shadow investigation” that sought to discredit former employees making accusations of workplace sexual harassment, hired private investigators to intimidate witnesses and used an overseas lawsuit as a pretext to obtain phone records and emails.
JULY 2022
After wrangling between his legal team and the committee over the parameters of his testimony, Snyder agreed to appear virtually.
Snyder testified for more than 10 hours on July 28.
OCTOBER 2022
ESPN released a lengthy report detailing Snyder’s efforts to influence other owners and the league office to maintain control of the team.
ESPN reported, citing anonymous sources, that Snyder hired private investigators and told people he has enough information to expose fellow owners and Goodell.
Days later, at the NFL owners’ meetings in New York on Oct. 18, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said there was “merit to remove” Snyder – the first public statement by one of Snyder‘s counterparts that he should go.
NOVEMBER 2022
The Snyders took the first step toward potentially selling the Commanders: The club announced on Nov. 2 that a financial services firm had been hired to “consider potential transactions.”
Roughly a week later, D.C. attorney general Karl Racine filed a consumer protection civil lawsuit against Snyder, the Commanders, the NFL and Goodell, accusing them of colluding to deceive fans by lying about an inquiry into “sexual misconduct and a persistently hostile work environment” within the team. Racine then filed a second suit accusing the team of a scheme to cheat fans out of ticket money.
The next day, the Commanders settled with the state of Maryland, agreeing to return security deposits to former season-ticket holders and pay a $250,000 penalty.
DECEMBER 2022
Before Democrats ceded control of the House to Republicans, the House Oversight Committee issued a final report saying Snyder played a role in the team’s “toxic work culture.”
Drawing from hearings, interviews and depositions, the House report concluded Snyder interfered in its investigation and Wilkinson’s review, which stemmed in 2020 from former employees alleging rampant sexual harassment by team executives.
MARCH 2023
Snyder‘s status was a hot topic at the annual NFL owners meeting in Arizona, even though he wasn’t a formal topic on the agenda. A person told the AP that Snyder and his attorneys demanded owners and the league indemnify him against future legal liability and costs if he sells the team.
On the final day of the meetings, two groups – the one with Harris, Rales and Johnson and another led by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos – submitted fully financed bids to buy the Commanders.
APRIL 2023
The District of Columbia settled a lawsuit with the Commanders for $625,000 over withholding fans’ season-ticket deposit money.
The settlement included returning $200,000 to fans and paying $425,000 to the district.
Snyder agreed in principle to sell to the group spearheaded by Harris, which Rales and Johnson later joined.
MAY 2023
Harris and the Snyders announced the sale agreement in a joint statement. It was the first public acknowledgement by Snyder that he was selling the team.
JULY 2023
NFL owners unanimously approved the sale and the league fined Snyder $60 million for sexually harassing an employee and withholding revenue from other teams. The punishment came as a result of White’s investigation, which was also publicly released.
The report concluded Snyder sexually harassed Tiffani Johnston, allegations Johnston first made last year in front of a House committee.
AUGUST 2023
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin wrote to Kentucky Rep. James Comer urging him to refer Snyder to the DOJ for an investigation into making false statements in his deposition and obstructing a congressional investigation.
Raskin pointed to the results of White’s investigation that contradicted Snyder’s testimony, specifically about sexually harassing Johnston and deliberately underreporting revenue to avoid sharing it with other owners.
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