Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has again declined to attend a hearing by the US House of Representatives’ oversight and reform committee scheduled for Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. ET.
Snyder’s lawyer, Karen Patton Seymour, sent a letter to the leaders of the House of Representatives’ oversight and reform committee on Monday, informing the committee of Snyder’s decision.
“Mr Snyder’s business conflict was scheduled long before and cannot be rescheduled,” Seymour told ESPN.com. “Furthermore, the suggestion in your letter that Mr Snyder could testify remotely does not address my concern that the virtual appearance would not sufficiently protect Mr Snyder’s interest in having his lawyer physically present.
Seymour added: “Snyders and the team remain fully prepared to cooperate with the committee and are eager to share the cultural transformation undertaken by the commanders if the committee is interested in obtaining this information in a way compatible with an appropriate process and protection of justice.”
The announcement came in response to a letter Friday from President Carolyn Maloney, DNY, calling on Snyder to testify at Wednesday’s hearing.
“If Mr Snyder had really been committed to cooperating with the commission’s investigation, he would have accepted the commission’s invitation to testify about the toxic culture in the commanders’ workplace,” the commission said Monday in a statement received from NFL Network’s Tom Pelisero. “As is clear from the chairwoman’s letter, the committee was more than kind – it even allowed Mr Snyder to testify remotely from France. His refusal to testify sends an unmistakable signal that Mr. Snyder has something to hide and fears that he will become impure to the American public and to address the major worker protection issues facing the NFL. The Commission will not be hindered in its investigation into revealing the truth about the misconduct of commanders in the workplace in Washington. “
Congress invited Snyder and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to attend the June 1 hearing as part of an investigation into the team’s behavior in the workplace.
Pelisero announced last week that Goodell had accepted the commission’s invitation and would testify virtually on Wednesday. On the same day, Snyder responded to Congress with a letter from his attorney explaining that Snyder “has a long-standing business conflict over commanders and is out of the country on the first and only date the committee has proposed for a hearing.”
Congress launched an investigation into the franchise’s misconduct in Washington in October 2021 after the league released a report outlining the findings of an independent investigation into the matter.
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