What Congress wants from NFL regarding WFT, Jon Gruden investigation, explained

Try as it might, the NFL can’t seem to tamp down requests for the full results of an investigation into the Washington Football Team that ultimately revealed racist, sexist and misogynistic emails from former Raiders coach Jon Gruden and led to his resignation.

There have been requests from journalists, former WFT employees, the NFLPA executive director and, on Thursday, the United States House of Representatives for the league to release the findings.

Up to now, the league has remained steadfast in its position that it won’t release anything else related to the probe. The league has also said that no other current team personnel were implicated or found to have committed any wrongdoing.

That wasn’t enough for Congress. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is launching its own investigation into the NFL’s handling of the matter.

Here’s what we know:

What is the House Oversight and Reform Committee investigating?

The Oversight Committee is the main investigative body of the House and has broad latitude in terms of what it investigates.

The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has authority to investigate the subjects within the Committee’s legislative jurisdiction as well as “any matter” within the jurisdiction of the other standing House Committees.

In this case, the committee will look into “the Washington Football Team’s (WFT) hostile workplace culture and NFL’s handling of this matter.” The full statement can be read here. Also in question is the authority and independence with which former federal prosecutor Beth Wilkinson, who was retained by team president Daniel Snyder to oversee the investigation, operated.

The committee is also looking into “the NFL’s lack of transparency about the problems it recently uncovered,” which it says “raise questions about the seriousness with which it has addressed bigotry, racism, sexism, and homophobia — setting troubling precedent for other workplaces.” That is an apparent reference to the Gruden emails. 

What is the committee requesting?

The committee, which is chaired by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., is asking the NFL for all documents and information related to the investigation of the WFT.

The committee is requesting three sets of documents and wants eight questions answered.

The documents:

 The questions:

“Pash” refers to Jeff Pash, the NFL’s general counsel. He, too, has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks over his friendly relationship with former WFT president Bruce Allen and emails the two exchanged on myriad topics.

Most notably, Pash and Allen discussed a perceived bias the league has against hiring conservatives, and Pash told Allen his attempt to cut a player’s salary was “the Lord’s work.” The NFL came to Pash’s defense over the emails, while the NFLPA described them as “absolutely concerning.”

The House committee gave the NFL until Nov. 4 to produce the requested documents and answers to the questions. The full letter can be read here.

Will the NFL comply with the committee’s request?

According to CBS Sports, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed the league was in receipt of the committee’s letter and aware of its requests. He declined to say whether the NFL would supply Congress with the information it asked for.

“We have received the Chairwoman’s letter and share her concern that all workplaces should be free from any form of harassment and discrimination,” McCarthy said. “We look forward to speaking to her office soon.”

The league has remained consistent that it won’t release anything more, though that was before Congress came knocking. 

According to committee Rule 14, which deals with supplying documents, if the NFL can’t fully meet the Nov. 4 deadline, it needs to provide a reason as to why and needs to provide whatever it can by that date.

“If compliance with the request cannot be made in full by the specified return date, compliance shall be made to the extent possible by that date. An explanation of why full compliance is not possible shall be provided along with any partial production,” the rule reads.

The commitee set a Nov. 4 deadline for the league to submit all the materials, which gives the NFL 15 days to comply or explain why it could not.

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