House Oversight Committee accepts Dan Snyder’s offer to testify July 28, but only under subpoena

The House Oversight and Reform Committee accepted Dan Snyder’s offer to testify virtually in late July, but only if the Commanders owner does so under a subpoena. 

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the committee investigating the Commanders’ workplace culture, accepted the July 28 date in a letter to Mr. Snyder’s attorney, Karen Patton Seymour, on Tuesday. But Ms. Maloney wrote that the committee will not allow Mr. Snyder to testify voluntarily, making the July 28 date contingent upon his attorney accepting the service of the subpoena.

Ms. Maloney, a New York Democrat, gave Mr. Snyder until Wednesday at noon to accept the subpoena and agree to appear virtually before the committee on July 28, two days before the start of Congress’ August recess. The committee first issued the subpoena to Mr. Snyder, 57, on June 24 and then asked Ms. Seymour to accept it on his behalf — a request she declined because she said she wasn’t authorized to do so. 

“The Committee will proceed with a subpoena in place to ensure that Mr. Snyder’s testimony will be full and complete and will not be restricted in the way it would be if the deposition were conducted voluntarily,” Ms. Maloney wrote. 

“Mr. Snyder’s attorneys are reviewing the Committee’s letter to determine if their due process concerns, including the circumstances of Mr. Snyder’s appearance, have adequately been addressed,” a spokesperson for Mr. Snyder said.

Ms. Maloney wrote that Mr. Snyder’s nondisclosure agreements are a main reason why the committee will not allow the embattled billionaire to testify voluntarily.  

“You have made clear to Committee staff that a voluntary appearance would exclude matters covered by non-disclosure agreements,” she wrote to Ms. Seymour. “Mr. Snyder has a troubling history of using NDAs to cover up workplace misconduct — behavior that is central to our investigation — and it would be highly inappropriate for him to employ the same tactic to withhold information from the Committee. Other former Commanders employees have participated in Committee depositions under subpoena, and Mr. Snyder should not be treated any differently.”

The letter comes five days after Ms. Seymour wrote to the committee to offer two dates in late July that Mr. Snyder could testify remotely, including the July 28 date. After Ms. Snyder’s refusal to accept the subpoena for the June 30 hearing, the committee offered July 6 or July 8 as days for the longtime Washington owner to testify, but Ms. Seymour said she was “unavailable” for those dates. 

Ms. Seymour wrote to the committee last week that Mr. Snyder will be in Israel “for much of July” to hold a ceremony for the one-year anniversary of his mother’s death, adding that his trip “cannot be rescheduled.” 

The committee, Ms. Maloney wrote, would allow Ms. Snyder to testify virtually via Zoom if he accepts the subpoena. 

The committee also will give Mr. Snyder and his lawyer “access to the exhibits used in prior Committee depositions,” transcriptions of witness interviews and descriptions of redacted information in previous transcripts.