Thursday 28 July 2022 02:09 PM Commanders owner Dan Snyder IS testifying to Congress about sexual harassment ... trends now Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder is testifying to Congress Thursday morning about sexual harassment and hostile workplace accusations against himself and his team, but the billionaire is doing so voluntarily via Zoom call as he travels in Israel. Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (Democrat-New York) sought to have Snyder testify in person and under subpoena as part of House Oversight Committee's probe into NFL club's workplace culture. Snyder has refused to testify under subpoena, but instead said he would do so voluntarily via Zoom call as he had been traveling abroad aboard. His attorney previously told the Committee that he was out of the country for much of July and August as he commemorated the one-year anniversary of his mother's death by traveling to Israel. A Snyder spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com Thursday that he is in Israel. On Thursday, the Committee agreed to let Snyder testify voluntarily, a Committee spokeswoman confirmed to DailyMail.com. That's significant because it means he can cite any existing non-disclosure agreements to refuse to answer particular questions. Under subpoena, the 57-year-old billionaire would have been compelled to testify fully. For his part, Snyder has said he would testify fully, according to a Committee statement, while House Democrats say they're prepared to compel his testimony by subpoena if any important questions remain unanswered. Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder is testifying to Congress Thursday morning about sexual harassment and hostile workplace accusations against himself and his team, but the billionaire is doing so voluntarily via Zoom call as he remains outside the country A name card for Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder sits at a table where the Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing about the toxic workplace culture at the Washington Commanders on June 22 'The Committee's deposition of Mr. Snyder will go forward today,' read the statement provided to DailyMail.com. 'Mr. Snyder has committed to providing full and complete testimony, and to answer the Committee's questions about his knowledge of and contributions to the Commanders' toxic work environment, as well as his efforts to interfere with the NFL's internal investigation, without hiding behind non-disclosure or other confidentiality agreements.' 'Should Mr. Snyder fail to honor his commitments, the Committee is prepared to compel his testimony on any unanswered questions upon his return to the United States.' Currently Snyder's yacht is off the coast of Elba, where Napoleon was briefly exiled before returning to power in 1815. Snyder was invited to testify at a June 22 hearing, but declined, citing an overseas obligation, as well as reservations about the scope of the Committee's questioning. In her letter last month, Maloney cited Snyder's 'month-long refusal' to cooperate with the Committee, although Snyder's attorney, Karen Patton Seymour, disagreed with that claim in her response on Wednesday. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did testify about the league investigation at the June 22 hearing, while Snyder remained conspicuously absent. At the time, Maloney announced her intentions to subpoena Snyder, whom she revealed was vacationing on his yacht off the coast of France. However, the subpoena could not be served to Snyder as he remained somewhere in the Mediterranean, where his yacht was tracked from the northern tip of Corsica to Sardinia and Stromboli Island and then onto Panarea, north of Sicily. There's even a Twitter account dedicated to tracking Snyder's vessel, @DanSnydersYacht, which also tracked his private jets back to the Washington DC area over the weekend, although it remains unclear if he's back in the country or not. Regardless, Snyder plans to be out of the country again for much of July' and 'into August,' according to Patton Seymour, who told the Committee the he will be observing the one-year anniversary of his mother's death in Israel. For months, the Committee has been investigating the Commanders' workplace culture, which has been described as toxic. Various reports have detailed claims of sexual harassment made by female ex-employees against male co-workers and supervisors, many of whom have since been dismissed. Sexual harassment allegations against team employees ranged from inappropriate comments to the creation of a lewd behind-the-scenes video from a cheerleader calendar shoot in 2008, according to a 2020 Washington Post report that first publicized the claims. Furthermore, a former cheerleader also alleged that Snyder suggested that she join his 'close friend' in a hotel room in 2004 so they 'could get to know each other.' Those revelations prompted a team investigation handled independently by DC-area attorney Beth Wilkinson, but the league quickly assumed control of that probe with Wilkinson's team reporting to the commissioner's office. The NFL then issued a $10 million fine to punish the club (which is worth an estimated $4.2 billion) and Snyder volunteered to cede day-to-day control of the team to his wife, Tanya. But the league's refusal to release a report on its investigation, citing privacy concerns of witnesses, prompted the Oversight Committee to launch its own investigation into the team, Snyder, and even the NFL. That investigation has led to more allegations of sexual harassment. Specifically, former team employee Tiffani Johnston testified in February that Snyder grabbed her thigh at a team dinner and pressured her to get into a limousine – claims that Snyder has since denied. Johnston's testimony triggered a new league investigation that's currently being led by Mary Jo White, a former US attorney and chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. White is also looking into claims of financial improprieties alleged by a former vice president of sales for the team – an accusation that is also being investigated the Virginia attorney general's office. The NFL has said White's findings will be made public, and Goodell reiterated that point at the June 22 hearing. The team has denied the accusations of financial malpractice. Prior to the Committee's hearing, members revealed new evidence that they claim 'sheds light' on Snyder's role in 'creating a hostile work environment.' In a press release, the Committee accused Snyder of attempting to discredit victims with his own 'shadow investigation' aimed at influencing the NFL's internal probe of the team and discouraging witnesses from coming forward. Despite that, Goodell repeated on June 22 that 'Dan Snyder has been held accountable,' and deflected questions about the absence of any report by saying the NFL was protecting confidentiality agreements with witnesses. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform also released a 29-page memo last month detailing findings from its eight-month probe into the Commanders and the NFL's handling of sexual harassment accusations. Snyder's lawyers allegedly created a 100-slide dossier that included private emails, texts, and social media posts from journalists, victims and witnesses, who had accused the club of harassment, according to the Committee. Furthermore, private investigators working for Snyder allegedly approached former cheerleaders in an effort to buy their silence and convince them to shift blame to other former employees. In a public statement, a spokesman for Snyder said the hearing is 'a politically charged show trial' adding that Congress shouldn't investigate 'an issue a football team addressed years ago.' For his part, Goodell told the Committee that the alleged 'shadow investigation' described in the memo violates NFL policy. 'Any kind of harassment against people who want to come forward and tell the truth—we would not permit, and we would not find acceptable,' Goodell told Rep. Jamie Raskin (Democrat-Maryland). Also on June 22, the Committee revealed testimony from David Pauken, the team's former Chief Operating Officer, who testified that Snyder told a female public relations staffer in 2002 to 'stay away' from a particular coach, whom she had accused of groping her. Snyder was also accused by Pauken of retaliating against female employees and cheerleaders who engaged in consensual sexual relationships with make co-workers, while the men were able to keep their jobs. One unnamed cheerleader was fired for such a relationship, while her male counterpart retained his job with the team, according to Pauken. 'The female employees were fired, the male employee was—there were no repercussions other than he was restricted from additional sex with the cheerleaders,' Pauken said. Another former employee told the Committee that the team culture centered around 'glorified drinking and womanizing.' The Committee had previously revealed a common interest agreement between the NFL and Commanders, that purportedly allowed Snyder to back-channel with the league and confidentially share information that couldn't not be revealed publicly. Goodell defended the agreement in his testimony, saying it was created to allow the Wilkinson investigation to be handed from the team's purview to the league's without requiring her to go back and interview witnesses who had already testified. The Committee also claims that Snyder's lawyers were improperly given direct access to the NFL and the law firm conducting the investigation, Wilkinson Stekloff, and used that access to share information from the team's probe in an attempt to influence investigating attorney Beth Wilkinson and her staff. In prepared statements, Goodell did acknowledge that the team's workplace culture had been 'unacceptable.' 'It is clear to me that the workplace in Washington was unprofessional and unacceptable in numerous respects: bullying, widespread disrespect toward colleagues, use of demeaning language, public embarrassment, and harassment,' read Goodell's prepared statement, provided to DailyMail.com by the NFL. 'To be clear – the workplace at the Commanders today bears no resemblance to the workplace that has been described to this committee.' Goodell also vowed to publish the findings of its new league investigation into Snyder, which includes February testimony from Johnston. 'Because those new allegations were brought to the Committee in a public setting, we will share the results of that investigation when it is completed and will take additional disciplinary action if warranted,' Goodell said. In addition to Johnston's testimony, another former employee named Melanie Coburn testified in February that she was once at Snyder's home in Aspen where he provided prostitutes for male employees. Other former Commanders employees told HBO ahead of the February hearing that Snyder witnessed male employees sexually harassing - and even groping - female subordinates. The former employees, including five women and one man, told the Committee in February that they feared retaliation from Snyder. For Snyder, the June 22 hearing came at an inopportune time. Beforehand, the Washington Post reported details of a $1.6 million settlement allegedly paid to an ex-team employee in 2009 after the woman accused Snyder of groping her aboard a team plane and trying to remove her clothing. The existence of the settlement was referenced in previous court filings involving Snyder, but the specific allegations had not been revealed publicly until Tuesday, when the Post detailed a letter written by an attorney who conducted the team's investigation into the matter. Goodell did admit in his testimony that he was aware of the 2009 claims against Snyder, as well as the fact that the allegations went unreported at the time - a violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility