(NewsNation) — Facing multiple investigations and the prospect of having to sell his team, the owner of the Washington Commanders has told confidantes that he has “dirt” on other owners and the league commissioner, according to ESPN.
Dan Snyder, who has owned the team since 1999, and the organization are currently the subject of ongoing investigations by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform and former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, who is conducting a new review on behalf of the NFL.
ESPN reported Snyder has now hired private investigators to dig up information on Commissioner Roger Goodell and other owners, telling associates “they can’t (expletive) with me.”
The Commanders denied the contents of the report. In a statement, a team spokesperson and lawyers called it “categorically untrue” and “clearly part of a well-funded, two-year campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful.”
Megan Imbert, a former Washington Commanders employee, said she believes hiring PIs is something Snyder would do, calling it “right out of his playbook.”
“He’s even compiled a dossier of where I’m included along with other people that participated in the investigation (of the team),” Imbert said Thursday on NewsNation’s “Rush Hour.” The owners “truly have the power over whether he remains in control of this team.”
League owners are set to meet next week but do not plan to take a vote on Snyder’s ownership, according to the Associated Press.
Last month, league executive Jeff Miller said there was no timeline for the completion of White’s investigation. Lisa Banks, who represents more than 40 former team employees, among whom some have spoken to White, voiced disappointment about the owners’ plan not to vote on Snyder but expects new findings to change that trajectory.
“I think they’re waiting, and they’ve indicated in the past that they’re going to wait, to see what Mary Jo White’s report says before making any decisions,” Banks said in a phone interview Thursday.
Imbert had her own message for the owners.
“They really need to look at the direction the NFL wants to take,” Imbert said. “I don’t see how the Snyders are helping the league, and if all they care about are profits, he’s showing that he’s hurting their bottom line.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.