There was a time when Washington politicians on both sides of the aisle found common ground in rooting for the local NFL franchise. But these days, Democrats and Republicans increasingly find themselves on opposing sides when it comes to owner Dan Snyder and the Washington Commanders.
The Republican side of the House committee that is looking into a growing list of allegations of wrongdoing with the team slammed the congressional investigation on Friday as election-year grandstanding by Democrats — “nothing more than an attempt to draw attention away from their party’s abysmal performance, both in the White House and Congress,” said Austin Hacker, GOP spokesman.
Hacker’s comment came amid last week’s reports — unconfirmed officially by the House Oversight and Reform Committee itself — that the Democrat-led panel has expanded the scope of its investigation, which was originally focused on charges of sexual misconduct by team executives, including Snyder.
According to multiple reports, including sources familiar with the status of the House investigation who spoke anonymously with The Washington Times, the panel now is looking into whether executives were guilty of “financial improprieties” — something the team emphatically dismissed last week — as well as a new accusation reportedly made to the congressional panel that the franchise withheld ticket revenue owed to the NFL.
The team as of Sunday had no official response to the latter accusation, which surfaced in an online report published Saturday by the sports-business website Front Office Sports.
But Republicans are skeptical of the direction the investigation has taken.
“The leak of one-sided, unconfirmed, unsupported allegations from a disgruntled ex-employee with an ax to grind is just further proof the Democrats’ investigation is a waste of Congress’ time,” Hacker said Friday in a statement. “Nothing the Committee has heard from any credible witness points to any financial improprieties; in fact, the only credible witness in a position to know the facts the Democrats have heard from has denied any such improprieties.”
The partisan divide over the investigation was on full display during a Feb. 3 congressional roundtable that featured former Washington employees. Democrats and Republicans clashed then over whether the committee’s probe into the matter was even appropriate.
Republicans argued that it was not the responsibility of Congress to examine sexual harassment allegations within a private organization, while Democrats insisted the committee had the right to oversee workplace safety issues.
At one point during the session, Rep. Yvette Herrell, a New Mexico Republican, blasted the roundtable as a “farce” — invoking McCarthyism in the process. Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican, flat out said “nothing” would come from the roundtable.
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, and ranking member James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, got into a testy shouting match after Connolly accused the Republicans of “victim-blaming” — leading chair Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, to bang the gavel multiple times.
The team’s billionaire owner has a history of donating money to politicians, including $25,000 to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s inaugural committee on Jan. 7 after the Republican won the state’s election months earlier. And Snyder donated $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural festivities in 2016. But, like most super-wealthy political donors, Snyder works both sides. He gave $50,000 in 2015 to a political action committee formed by then Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat.
The Commanders said in a statement last week that the team is unaware of any investigation by the congressional committee regarding its finances, “despite vague and unsubstantiated claims” by anonymous sources.
“The team categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time,” a Commanders spokesperson said. “We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work.”
Front Office Sports wrote that the information given to the committee extends “beyond first-person testimony.”
Washington is coming off a season in which it ranked second-to-last in the NFL’s attendance figures. The team averaged 52,751 fans per game — a 19.5% decrease from the 2019 season, the last year in which stadiums could hold full capacity. Teams had limited attendance in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Team president Jason Wright has said the attendance figure doesn’t tell the whole story.
“After a season like that, we are No. 4 in new season ticket sales overall for the NFL,” Wright told WUSA 9, referring to the team’s 7-10 record. “We’re No. 2 in club season ticket sales overall for the NFL. That represents a 3.5 times increase over our new season ticket sales in 2019, just two years ago, the last time we had a full selling season. In the numbers, there is enthusiasm for this team.”
Ticket sales factor into how the league determines its salary cap, set at $208.2 million for this upcoming season. Front Office Sports reported the NFL and the Commanders learned about the allegations in recent weeks.
The committee did not respond to a request for comment.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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