Washington Commanders Owner Accused Of Sexual Assault On Team Plane In 2009: Report

ASHBURN, VA — Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder faces a Congressional subpoena in an investigation into the team's treatment of women in the workplace, and as a new report surfaced that Snyder was accused of sexual assault in April 2009.

A letter recently obtained by The Washington Post reported the assault claim. The team agreed to pay the woman a $1.6 million settlement three months later, the paper reported.

The woman said the assault occurred on a flight back from a work trip in Las Vegas on one of the team's private planes, the Post reported. The woman, who was not named in the report, claimed that Snyder asked her for sex, groped her and attempted to remove her clothes.

Snyder denied the allegation and a team investigation accused the woman of lying in attempt to extort money from Snyder and the team. Still, Snyder and the franchise agreed to a confidential settlement with the woman if she agreed not to go public with the allegation.

Snyder and the Washington Commanders are currently the subject of an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Members of the committee have voiced concerns about the franchise's workplace and culture and the NFL's response.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, (D-NY) chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, on Wednesday shared a memo that detailed Snyder's efforts to discredit victims. A news release from the committee claimed Snyder launched a "shadow investigation" in an attempt to influence the NFL's investigation into the Commanders workplace culture.

Maloney said at Wednesday's hearing that she will issue a subpoena for Snyder to testify at next week.

"Mr. Snyder's refusal to testify sends a clear signal that he is more concerned about protecting himself than coming clean to the American public," Maloney said, according to CBS Sports. "If the NFL is unwilling to hold Mr. Snyder accountable, then I am prepared to do so. The Committee will not be deterred in its investigation to uncover the truth of workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders."

Snyder agreed to step away from day-to-day operations of the Commanders last summer after the NFL fined the team $10 million after an investigation into its workplace and culture.

Read more: Washington Football Team Fined $10M After NFL Investigation

Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform have requested more information about the results of the NFL's investigation but said the league has not fully cooperated.

"For seven months, the Committee has been stonewalled by NDAs and other tools to evade accountability," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, (D-IL) chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy in the committee's news release. "Mr. Snyder and Mr. Goodell need to appear before the Committee to address these issues and answer our questions about the pervasive workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders, and how the NFL addressed these issues."

Read more: Commanders' Hostile Workplace Claim: Snyder, Goodell Asked To Testify

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform was scheduled to meet Wednesday and invited NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Snyder to testify. Snyder did not testify.

A letter sent Monday to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), the committee’s chairwoman, from Snyder’s lawyer, Karen Patton Seymour, said the team owner couldn't testify Wednesday because of a “long-standing business conflict, for which he is out of the country,” the Post reported.

The letter also noted concerns about “fundamental notions of fairness and due process.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Snyder characterized the report and the hearing as “a politically charged show trial” and said Congress should not be investigating “an issue a football team addressed years ago,” USA Today reported.

Goodell is scheduled to testify remotely at 11 a.m.

The New York Times reported Goodell will tell the committee the league had “compelling reasons” to limit its report to an oral briefing in order to preserve the confidentiality of its participants.

“We have been open and direct about the fact that the workplace culture at the Commanders was not only unprofessional, but toxic for far too long,” Goodell said in prepared testimony, according to the Times. He added that there had been “substantial transformation” of the team’s office and that it “bears no resemblance to the workplace that has been described to this committee.”