New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, issued a 168-page report in August detailing the findings of an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, then the state’s governor.
No confidences were violated, and no one’s privacy invaded. Some witnesses were named, and others were anonymous.
We bring up these facts to point out the absurdity of the rationale by National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell for the league’s refusal to release details of its investigation into the Washington Football Team.
He claims secrecy is needed to protect those who cooperated with the investigation. Goodell, as the attorney for some of the women who alleged sexual harassment and mistreatment told us, “is certainly protecting something or someone, but it’s not my clients or the other participants in the investigation.”
Goodell doubled down Tuesday on the decision not to release any materials turned up by the outside law firm that spent 10 months investigating the Washington Football Team’s toxic culture under the decades of ownership by Daniel Snyder.
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Hundreds of witnesses were interviewed and 650,000 documents were collected but there was — as instructed by the NFL — no written report. None of the allegations, including a claim of sexual assault against Snyder that led to a secret $1.6 million settlement, was addressed.
A 29-paragraph statement was issued concluding that the Washington Football Team had operated “both generally and particularly for women” in a “highly unprofessional” manner and Snyder got a slap on the wrist.
“We feel that this is the appropriate way to do it,” Goodell said at the close of the first day of a two-day meeting of team owners. “We’re very conscious of making sure that we’re protecting those that came forward. They were incredibly brave, incredibly open, and we respect the pain that they probably went through all over again to come forward.”
Lisa Banks, the attorney representing 40 former Washington Football Team employees, pointed out her clients didn’t ask for protection but for transparency and accountability. They are still waiting for a response to their request to meet with the league.
The NFL’s refusal to create and make public a report of its findings is a continuation of its efforts to stage manage the scandal rather than to provide a real accounting. After reporters for The Post first detailed the stories of women victimized by the team’s male executives, the NFL let Snyder hire the outside law firm to investigate matters until more horrific revelations made even the league realize how bad that looked.
The investigation was completed in July but has gotten renewed attention after some of the emails unearthed in the probe became public, resulting in the resignation of Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden over his use of racist, homophobic and misogynistic language. All of which raised questions of what else the NFL is hiding.
Attorneys, activists, members of Congress and the player’s association have all called for a report to be written and released. Goodell claims that the NFL held Snyder properly accountable. The public should be given the information it needs to judge that for itself.