House Oversight Committee invites Dan Snyder, Roger Goodell to testify at

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell have been requested to testify at a congressional hearing on June 22.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-New York), the chairperson of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois), the chairperson of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, announced Wednesday morning the committee sent letters to both men requesting their presence at the hearing.

With its announcement, the Committee on Oversight and Reform is broadening the scope of its congressional investigation to include the league. In a statement, the June 22 hearing will also examine “the NFL’s role in setting and enforcing standards across the League, and legislative reforms needed to address these issues across the NFL and other workplaces.” The committee has been investigating the Commanders’ hostile workplace culture since October.

“The NFL really needs to answer the question of why it conducted the investigation in the way it did and why hasn’t it brought transparency as to how the investigation was conducted,” Krishnamoorth told ESPN.

He said if they declined to testify then, “all options are on the table. Subpoena and compulsory process are options available to the committee as well.”

Krishnamoorthi said the fact that there’s a lot of public interest in this — as well as public pressure — should highlight the urgency to testify.

“It’s in their best interest to come and tell their own side of the story in a manner they would find illuminating for us,” he said. “What I find often on Capitol Hill is that when a party comes forward voluntarily as opposed to being subpoenaed, it ends up having a better chance of being able to explain the situation rather than events overtaking it.”

The NFL said it would respond to the request for Goodell to testify “in a timely manner.”

“The NFL has cooperated extensively throughout the Committee’s lengthy investigation of the Washington Commanders, including by producing more than 460,000 pages of documents and responding to numerous questions in writing and in conversations with the Committee’s staff,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement.

Last June, the NFL fined the Commanders $10 million as a result of its investigation, led by Wilkinson, into the franchise’s workplace culture. Last October, Maloney and Krishnamoorthi sent a letter to Goodell requesting all documents related to the investigation. Goodell, however, has said the full report on the investigation will not be released to protect the anonymity of the people who cooperated with the investigation.

The Washington Post reported in November that Snyder tried to prevent Wilkinson from interviewing a woman who had accused the owner of sexual misconduct in 2009. The woman was ultimately paid a $1.6 million settlement. Goodell, however, has denied that Snyder hindered the league’s investigation.

“We are pleased the House Oversight Committee has invited Dan Snyder and Roger Goodell to testify in front of the Committee,” attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent ex-employees of the Washington franchise, said in a statement. “We hope they will demonstrate the…