If the U.S. House of Representatives currently were controlled by the Democratic Party, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability would be referring former Commanders owner Daniel Snyder to the Department of Justice or prosecution. With the Republican Party controlling the House, and in turn the oversight committee, there will be no referral.
Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to make the referral on Wednesday. The committee quickly dismissed the possibility.
“Ranking Member Raskin is obsessed with an investigation that has no connection whatsoever to the federal government,” a House Oversight Committee spokesperson said in the statement to FrontOfficeSports.com. “It is very clear what their priorities are — Democrats are more concerned with using Committee resources to target a private sports workplace than investigating the corruption of the sitting President of the United States.”
It’s a continuation of the arguments made when the committee, under Democratic rule, investigated the Commanders in the first place. The Republicans balked, constantly airing grievances about the alleged misuse of resources to explore misconduct in the technically private workplace of an inherently public endeavor.
Raskin believes Snyder lied to Congress during his sworn testimony in July 2022. What further resources are needed to say to the DOJ, “Hey, this guy might have lied to us under oath”?
“Rather than join Committee Democrats in this effort, Committee Republicans have repeatedly sought to protect Daniel Snyder despite overwhelming evidence that he condoned and participated in a toxic workplace culture of pervasive sexual harassment, including by issuing a memo that sought to whitewash Mr. Snyder’s misconduct,” a spokesperson for the Oversight Committee Democrats said in response to the Republican statement. “Their refusal to hold Mr. Snyder accountable for his efforts to obstruct the Committee’s investigation, including by making false statements under oath, is yet further proof that Committee Republicans are intent on using the Committee to advance false narratives rather than gathering facts and evidence to inform legislation for the benefit of the American people.”
It’s the latest example of the toxic nature of our current political system, where concepts like truth and justice fall in the cracks when the goal is to score points, raise funds, and/or curry favor with the base.
Frankly, it’s amazing that the country continues to survive and thrive with such dysfunction among our elected leaders. On both sides.
And it’s amazing that the citizens continue to tolerate it.
