Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder may wind up having to explain himself to a congressional committee after all. Earlier this month, the House Committee on Oversight & Reform requested that Snyder and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell appear before them at a June 22 hearing into the Commanders‘ alleged toxic work environment. Goodell agreed to appear via remote video, but Snyder declined, citing “a longstanding Commanders-related business conflict,” and did not change that decision even after a committee spokesperson blasted it with “His refusal to testify sends an unmistakable signal that Mr. Snyder has something to hide.” Well, during the hearing Wednesday, committee chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) said she intends to issue a subpoena to Snyder to appear before the committee for a deposition:
"We also invited Daniel Snyder to testify today. But rather than show up and take responsibility for his actions, he chose to skip town. Apparently, Mr. Snyder is in France, where he has docked his luxury yacht near a resort town." – Rep. Carolyn Maloney https://t.co/afNcHPJh3o
— The Team 980 (@team980) June 22, 2022
Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, announced her intent to issue a subpoena to Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Commanders, for a Committee deposition. pic.twitter.com/GMcOoerV7j
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) June 22, 2022
Here’s video of some of Maloney’s comments on this:
Rep Maloney announces she's issuing a subpoena to force Dan Snyder to testify before congress next week after Roger Goodell says he's not responsible for Snyder not showing up today pic.twitter.com/2g4jfS25HJ
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) June 22, 2022
It may be notable that the discussion here is about a deposition, as those are often taken in private rather than in public hearings. So this won’t necessarily lead to Snyder testifying in a public venue. Snyder’s lawyers may also have a response to the subpoena, so his testimony before this committee is not yet assured.
But it’s definitely notable that Maloney has announced plans to subpoena Snyder. And that this came out of a hearing that produced plenty of other news on Snyder’s past actions with the Commanders, including discussion of a “shadow investigation” from Snyder into alleged victims, witnesses, and journalists. It will be interesting to see where this goes from here, but congressional examination of Snyder appears far from done.
[Image via @gifdsports on Twitter]