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NFL fines Daniel Snyder $60 million after investigation into outgoing Commanders owner
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- NFL fines Daniel Snyder $60 million after investigation into outgoing Commanders owner
An NFL investigation substantiated claims that outgoing Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder sexually harassed a former employee at a work-related dinner and the team deliberately underreported revenues to the NFL, according to a report released Thursday.
The NFL released the 23-page investigative report, which was prepared by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White and a team of outside lawyers, shortly after its owners voted unanimously to approve Snyder's sale of the Commanders to Josh Harris for $6.05 billion. The league said in a statement that Snyder will pay the league $60 million, or about 1% of that sale price, "in resolution of Ms. White's findings and all outstanding matters."
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"The conduct substantiated in Ms. White's findings has no place in the NFL," the league's commissioner, Roger Goodell, said in a statement.
A Commanders spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment, and attempts to reach lawyers for Snyder were not immediately successful.
The long-awaited release of the report came more than 17 months after the NFL tabbed White, who also previously served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to investigate Snyder and the Commanders.
It also served as a damning coda to his 24-year run as the owner of Washington's pre-eminent professional sports franchise.
Washington Commanders co-owner Dan Snyder speaks as co-owner Tanya Snyder (L) listens during a press conference revealing the Commanders as the new name for the formerly named Washington Football Team at FedEx Field.
The NFL said in a statement that White's team interviewed "dozens" of witnesses as part of its investigation and reviewed more than 10,000 documents.
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Though the investigators did not find sufficient evidence to make a determination on some of the allegations levied by former employees, the report said they were able to sustain two of the key claims they were tasked to look into − including the allegation of sexual harassment levied against Snyder.
Tiffani Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing employee for the Commanders, said in public testimony delivered on Capitol Hill in February 2022 that Snyder had made "sexual advances" during a work dinner. She told members of the House Oversight Committee, which was probing the team at the time, that Snyder had placed his hand on her thigh under a table, then later tried to usher her into his limousine.
Snyder denied Johnston's claims, calling them "outright lies." White's team disagreed.
In the report, investigators said they were able to sustain Johnston's allegations, citing testimony from four witnesses who recalled her telling them about the incident shortly thereafter, among other corroborating evidence. They determined the location of the dinner, the Oceanaire Seafood Room in Washington, and included in the report a text message between two team executives that references the incident.
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"While we could not determine the precise date of the incident and the identities of all dinner attendees, we sustained Ms. Johnston's allegations," the report states. "We spoke to Ms. Johnston several times and found her to be highly credible."
White's team also substantiated a separate set of allegations related to the team's finances, which also emerged from the Congressional investigation.
Jason Friedman, a former Commanders sales executive, testified to the House Oversight Committee that the Commanders had kept "two sets of books" for financial accounting. In excerpts of testimony that were later sent to the Federal Trade Commission, Friedman said the team withheld or concealed ticket revenue from the NFL, in part by categorizing it under events that were not subject to league sharing, like concerts or college football games.
White's team said it found sufficient evidence to substantiate Friedman's claims, including emails in which team employees openly discussed misallocating shareable revenue. In one email, according to the report, an employee wrote in an email to Washington's chief financial officer that "[i]f the NFL had a jail... we would be in it."
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All told, investigators determined that at least $11 million in NFL revenue was improperly shielded from the league, and that Snyder was "aware of and supportive of" his staff's efforts to minimize sharing revenue, despite denying any knowledge of financial improprieties.
"We were unable to determine the precise amount of underreported revenues, or the extent of Mr. Snyder's knowledge and involvement in the Club's improper revenue shielding schemes," the report states. "It is clear, however, that the Club intentionally underreported some amount of shareable revenue and did so in deliberate violation of the League's revenue sharing rules, frequently by improperly classifying NFL revenues as non-shareable revenues from special events, such as concerts, college football games, or soccer games."
Separately, and lastly, White's team ripped Snyder and the team for delaying and impeding their investigation. They wrote in the report that the Commanders and their owner "complained about the burden and cost of searching for and producing materials" at every turn and ultimately refused to turn over some of the requested documents.
"Evidencing his individual failure to cooperate, Mr. Snyder engaged in months of scheduling, cancelling, and rescheduling of his interview," the report states. "Ultimately, his interview, agreed to at the last minute, did not alter our substantive findings or the finding that he and the Club failed to cooperate with the Investigation."
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The findings of White's investigation were revealed roughly two years after the conclusion of a second probe, also commissioned by the NFL, into allegations of a toxic workplace culture in Washington. That probe, led by attorney Beth Wilkinson, found evidence of a "highly unprofessional" culture, especially for female employees, but did not result in the production or release of a written report.
The team was fined $10 million as a result of that investigation, and Snyder agreed to temporarily cede day-to-day control of the team to his wife, Tanya. But the lack of a written report sparked Congressional interest in the matter and ultimately led to White's investigation.
Attorneys for Johnston, Friedman and dozens of other former Commanders employees criticized the NFL's decision to not share more information about the Wilkinson probe, while also hailing Thursday's findings as a moment of vindication for their clients.
"Dan Snyder has been forced to sell the team he said he would never sell, pay a massive fine to the NFL and there now exists an extensive public record of his personal wrongdoing and the misconduct that occurred under his leadership," the attorneys, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, said in a statement.
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Snyder announced his intention late last year to sell all or part of the team. He will be replaced by Harris, who owns the NHL's New Jersey Devils and NBA's Philadelphia 76ers , and a list of minority owners that includes NBA legend Magic Johnson.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daniel Snyder fined $60 million by NFL after investigation
