White Report Paints Damning Picture of Snyder, Commanders
With NFL owners unanimously approving a Josh Harris-led group as the new owners of the Washington Commanders—thus ending Daniel Snyder’s tenure as the team’s owner—the NFL on Thursday released a 23-page report containing findings by former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White regarding workplace misconduct by Snyder and the team.
The report reveals that Snyder will pay the league $60 million “in resolution of Ms. White’s findings and all outstanding matters.”
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The report corroborates allegations by former Commanders employee Tiffani Johnston that Snyder made unwanted physical contact and advances. Specifically, it sustains Johnston’s allegation that Snyder “put his hand on her thigh under a restaurant at a work-related dinner” and that Snyder “pushed her towards the back seat of his car.” White’s team of investigators met with Johnston several times “and found her to be highly credible.” Her accounts were also supported by witnesses.
The report also sustained an allegation by Jason Friedman, a former team ticket sales executive who worked under Snyder, that the team “intentionally shielded and withheld an amount of shareable NFL revenues in violation of NFL policies, including forfeited security deposits.” Snyder, “known for his hands-on management of close monitoring of the club’s finances,” was deemed “aware” and “supportive” of efforts to minimize revenue sharing obligations.
White noted that although Snyder and team officials assert that Friedman “is not credible on any subject,” she rejected that depiction. Instead, her team found him “to be a credible and careful witness about the allegations regarding both this event and the financial improprieties.” The report adds that Friedman’s claims “are corroborated separately by extensive independent evidence and the club’s own admissions to the investigators.
The report reads as if the NFL had lawful grounds to seek Snyder’s expulsion as an owner. Although the league has never taken such a step, and although expulsion requires a complicated process and ultimate support from three-quarters or more of owners, the Commanders under Snyder’s watch are described as knowingly violating league rules and mistreating women.
The report also suggests that Snyder’s legal problems, detailed on Sportico earlier on Thursday, could worsen. The league has confirmed that Snyder engaged in wrongdoing that is relevant to a federal investigation by U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber of the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as lawsuits. While Snyder could attempt to rebut White’s findings and investigative methods in a court of law—White, as a private individual, had no subpoena power, witnesses might have lied or omitted information and she was paid by the NFL, which took an adverse position with Snyder—his willingness to pay the league $60 million could be read as a concession.
In a statement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said “What Ms. Johnston experienced is inappropriate and contrary to the NFL’s values.”
With assistance from Scott Soshnick.
