Dan Snyder Stories: Washington Commanders, 4 Prostitutes & Sour Milk

Former Washington COO David Pauken testified that Snyder ordered him to pour milk on the floor in Mark Lerner’s suite at FedEx Field.

Our general analysis of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s investigation into the Washington Commanders’ workplace culture?

Sour.

Our specific thought on one aspect of the Committee surveying a scene full of allegedly nasty behavior by Washington owner Daniel Snyder.

Sour milk.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch dug into the written testimony of some of the witnesses against Snyder. The prostitution-related stories? Those tie into the sexual harassment and assault theme that is part of the root of the investigation.

But "sour milk''?

That comes from former Washington COO David Pauken, who testified that Snyder ordered him to pour milk on the floor in Mark Lerner’s suite at FedEx Field. It seems Lerner, the principal owner of the Washington Nationals, had engaged in a business deal with Snyder that Snyder ended up not liking. 

So ...

Still working through the hundreds of pages but it’s going to be hard to beat the Sour Milk Story. This is from David Pauken’s testimony. pic.twitter.com/SxuQSiftFh

— michael phillips (@michaelpinRVA) June 23, 2022

But why?

The goal was for the milk to sour just in time for Lerner to attend the game.

From Pauken’s testimony: "Dan asked me to pour milk on the carpet under the seating in Mark Lerner’s suite so that the suite would smell like sour milk when the Lerner family came in on gameday. And he had [redacted] do that on another occurrence. ... I owe Mark Lerner an apology, but I did it because Dan told me to do it.”

From the congressional testimony records: Former COO David Pauken alleges that Dan Snyder brought what he assumed were prostitutes on a Final Four trip. pic.twitter.com/N0AsjvDDJP

— michael phillips (@michaelpinRVA) June 23, 2022

The "four prostitutes'' story, above, is unfortunate, and maybe part of why one ex-player calls Snyder "a poor excuse for a human.'' But in a sense, it borders on conventional behavior for some. The "clown show'' aspect of these hearings? Maybe "conventional'' as well, unfortunately.

But the "sour milk'' story? It's at a level of oddity that causes one to wonder how the Washington Commanders ever rid themselves of that smell.