Former Washington team president Bruce Allen testified virtually before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform for 10 hours on Tuesday. Allen’s testimony began around 11:30 a.m. ET and ended around 9:30 p.m., according to the Washington Post.
Allen’s testimony is the latest in the House committee’s investigation into the NFL team’s toxic workplace culture. Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder gave a voluntary deposition under oath in July. Allen’s testimony came after he was subpoenaed.
Allen was Washington’s team president for 10 years until he was fired in December 2019. Allen presided over Washington’s day-to-day activities for a decade and came under scrutiny last fall when some of his over 600,000 emails from his time in Washington were released.
Allen’s emails to former Raiders coach Jon Gruden while he worked at ESPN led to the latter’s resignation as head coach last October. Other Allen emails were released, including to the NFL’s top lawyer, Jeff Pash.
The NFL’s investigation into the organization is the second one led by the league. Beth Wilkinson’s original investigation, which did not include a written report, lasted close to a year. After more allegations surfaced against Snyder this year, the NFL appointed Mary Jo White to lead the new investigation.
Snyder himself has faced troubling accusations, which he has consistently denied, while the team was accused by a former employee of financial improprieties, another claim the they strongly denied.
The House committee released the following statement regarding Allen’s testimony via the Washington Post:
“The Committee is continuing to investigate the decades-long workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders and the NFL’s failure to address it,” the statement said. “Mr. Allen served in senior roles under team owner Dan Snyder for many years, so his testimony is important for the Committee to fully understand these serious issues and advance reforms to protect workers in the future.”
