Dan Snyder deposition formally scheduled, but still up in the air whether owner participates

The House Oversight and Reform Committee has scheduled an interview with Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder for later this week, but the procedural move does not guarantee the deposition will actually take place. 

The committee and Snyder are still at an impasse over the format of the question-and-answer session that is penciled in for Thursday, a source with knowledge of the situation said. Snyder’s lawyer first proposed to the panel that her client could remotely testify on July 28 on a voluntary basis. But while the committee was open to the date, Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney insisted that the embattled billionaire do so under a subpoena. 

The two sides have clashed for weeks over whether Snyder will testify regarding his team’s sexual misconduct scandal. The owner previously turned down an invitation to appear at a June 22 hearing, leading the committee to issue a subpoena. But with Snyder out of the country, his lawyer has refused to accept the service of the subpoena on his behalf and instead has tried to negotiate a compromise.

As part of the process, the committee was required to post a formal notice of a deposition three days in advance of the targeted date. Ms. Maloney, a New York Democrat, did so late Monday — registering the notice with the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Thursday’s deposition, according to the public record, is set to take place at 8 a.m. over Zoom. 

Until then, the sides will continue to negotiate. Under a subpoenaed deposition, Snyder would be sworn and would have to answer each of the committee’s specific questions unless he were to invoke the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination. Those who participate in voluntary circumstances can decline to answer without invoking their constitutional right. 

But Karen Patton Seymour, Snyder’s attorney, has argued that the committee has “no valid basis” to issue a subpoena.

The lawyer, who has raised concerns over due process, wrote in a July 13 letter that Snyder’s voluntary appearance would offer the committee the owner’s “full and complete testimony.” She rejected the committee’s argument that the owner would cite exiting non-disclosure agreements that would prevent him from answering specific questions.

“Mr. Snyder is not subject to any NDA that conditions his ability to share information solely on receipt of a subpoena,” Ms. Seymour wrote, calling the accusation “baseless.” 

Snyder agreed to testify remotely from Israel as he’s there to honor the one-year anniversary of his mother’s death. 

The two sides agreed upon the July 28 date after weeks of trading letters and phone calls over whether Snyder when — or would — testify. But the details have still not been finalized.