House Oversight Committee Reacts to Dan Snyder Not Testifying

The Commanders‘ owner is under investigation for his culpability in the franchise’s alleged poor workplace culture.

Commanders owner Dan Snyder will not appear at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on June 22, according to a report from The Washington Post last week.

Snyder and his attorney declined the request to appear via a four-page letter submitted at the beginning of June.

Last week, a Committee spokesperson told the Post, “The Committee intends to move forward with this hearing. We are currently reviewing Mr. Snyder’s letter and will respond.”

On Monday, the Committee responded as promised.

“If Mr. Snyder was truly committed to cooperating with the Committee’s investigation, he would have accepted the Committee’s invitation to testify about the Commanders’ toxic workplace culture. As the Chairwoman’s letter made clear, the Committee has been more than accommodating–even allowing Mr. Snyder to testify remotely from France. His refusal to testify sends an unmistakable signal that Mr. Snyder has something to hide and is afraid of coming clean to the American public and addressing major worker protection concerns facing the NFL. The Committee will not be deterred in its investigation to uncover the truth of workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders.”

The months-long investigation into Snyder and the Washington franchise began in October 2021, when the House began looking into the franchise’s workplace culture, how the league handled misconduct reports and how to better address these issues in the NFL and elsewhere moving forward.

The investigation into the Commanders franchise began after the Post published an article in July 2020 detailing workplace sexual harassment experienced by 15 former employees. Snyder also faces several allegations of misconduct himself.

The hearing regarding Snyder and the Commanders will begin on Wednesday.