The Washington Commanders are once again under investigation by the NFL. And we're going to see the results this time.
The NFL has hired former SEC chair and U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White to investigate the latest allegations into Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder made before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, according to The Washington Post's Mark Maske.
The NFL has engaged Mary Jo White to conduct the league's investigation into the latest allegations against Daniel Snyder and the Commanders arising from the recent House Oversight Committee roundtable, source says.
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) February 18, 2022
The finding of White's investigation will reportedly be made public at its conclusion, at which point NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will determine the next step for the league.
Among the things White will be looking into is the latest litany of harassment and misconduct allegations levied against the Commanders, and Snyder specifically. Before Congress, former Commanders cheerleader Tiffani Johnston accused Snyder of strategically sitting next to her at a dinner, touching her leg and later physically pushing her toward his car.
White's investigation will follow that of Beth Wilkinson, who first investigated the Commanders after the initial sexual harassment allegations levied against the team. That process led to Snyder being removed from his position as the day-to-day leader of the Commanders, but replaced by his wife, and a $10 million fined levied against the team.
Crucially, however, Wilkinson's final conclusions (i.e. the NFL's best look into the inner workings of the Commanders investigation) were never publicly released or assembled as a report, but rather presented to Goodell. Per Maske, the highly public forum of these latest allegations is what caused the NFL to decide to make the results public.
Who is Mary Jo White?
The name Mary Jo White may ring a bell for NFL fans.
The NFL previously hired White to look into allegations against former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson of workplace misconduct, including sexual harassment and using a racial slur. White's investigation led to a $2.75 million fine for Richardson, who announced he was selling the team shortly after the investigations were initially published.
White also led the investigation of then-Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer and his alleged knowledge of domestic violence accusations against wide receivers coach Zach Smith in 2018 and was part of the investigation into Ezekiel Elliott's domestic violence allegations that led to a six-game suspension for the Dallas Cowboys running back in 2017.
Before her time as a private attorney, White worked as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commissioner under Barack Obama and as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Dan Snyder hired his own investigators
Before the NFL brought in White, Snyder's plan was to, well, investigate himself.
Days after the allegations were made against him in Congress, the Commanders owner moved to announce his own investigation, led by Debra Yang of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and overseen by Bonnie Jonas and Tiffany Moller of Pallas Global Group.
That was to the reported surprise of the NFL, who said Snyder should not be allowed to have any part in such an investigation and announced it would hire its own investigator. Now, with the hire of White, the Commanders confirmed there will be no parallel investigation.
Statement from the Commanders, who are backing down on their own investigation into the allegations made against Dan Snyder. pic.twitter.com/hDU5gJ4ldJ
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) February 18, 2022
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