House Committee: Commanders Owner Daniel Snyder Resisting Subpoena

The Congressional committee says the owner has ‘refused to accept service’ of a subpoena, but his spokesperson denies he is dodging testimony.

Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder has "refused to accept service” of a subpoena to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the committee said in a statement Monday.

The committee had requested to hear from Snyder and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at last Wednesday's public hearing regarding allegations of a toxic workplace within the Commanders organization. Only Goodell attended the hearing, which the committee titled "Tackling Toxic Workplaces: Examining the NFL’s Handling of Workplace Misconduct at the Washington Commanders." Snyder's attorney, Karen Patton Seymour, said Snyder was out of the country on business and unable to attend.

As a result, committee chairwoman Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney announced her intent to subpoena Snyder in order to compel his testimony on the matter. According to the committee, Snyder appears unwilling to comply.

"Mr. Snyder has so far refused to accept service of the Committee's subpoena," a spokesperson for the committee said in Monday's statement. "While the Committee has been, and remains, willing to consider reasonable accommodations requested by witnesses, we will not tolerate attempts to evade service of a duly authorized subpoena or seek special treatment not afforded to other witnesses who testified in this matter."

The Washington Post reported that the committee asked Seymour if she could accept receipt of the subpoena, but Seymour declined because she is conducting business out of the country.

A spokesperson for Snyder said the owner has not refused to be deposed by the committee, according to Post reporter Nicki Jhabvala. The spokesperson also said that June 30 was the only date offered to Snyder on which to testify, but Seymour will still be out of the country on that day. The statement goes on to say that Seymour has provided other possible dates for Snyder to appear before the committee. 

A probe by the committee that began in October 2021 is examining the Commanders’ workplace culture, how the league handled misconduct reports, “the NFL’s role in setting and enforcing standards across the League, and legislative reforms needed to address these issues across the NFL and other workplaces,” according to a committee press release issued earlier this month.