Washington football team owner Dan Snyder said he was the victim of an extortion campaign by one of the franchise’s minority owners, according to a court hearing in Maryland on Wednesday.
Snyder filed the application a day after a Washington Post story reported more details about a $ 1.6 million deal the franchise paid a former employee for a 2009 sexual misconduct allegation.
Snyder’s filing in U.S. District Court in southern Maryland said one of the team’s minority partners, Dwight Schar, was trying to force him to sell the franchise.
“I firmly believe that the plaintiffs’ motion and the supplementary filing and news articles they have generated are the latest efforts to extort me, ”the statement said.
The New York Times had reported last weekend on the deal. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that it had received a copy of the agreement and, citing an anonymous source, said it came from an incident on Snyder’s plane when he was returning from the Las Vegas Academy of Country Music Awards.
In Snyder’s filing on Wednesday, he said: “The Post’s article includes several quotes from the filing that improperly offer the misleading impression, based on the plaintiffs’ position and status, that there was merit in the allegations. The purpose of the plaintiffs in filing their supplement to the file is now clear: to try to keep getting dirty in an effort to gain leverage in this business dispute. “
The New York Times had previously reported Sunday that two investigations conducted in 2009 by the team and an outside law firm did not confirm the former employee’s claim. The newspaper reported that Snyder paid the sum to avoid any negative publicity. Also, in the colony, Snyder, or anyone else, admitted wrongdoing.
Snyder’s filling states that no evidence of crime was found after an investigation by a law firm.
“However, plaintiff Schar threatened to reveal me to discredit me and embarrass my family, but that the insurance company decided to liquidate,” Snyder said, according to the filing.
In two stories this summer, the Post reported that a total of 40 women had said they were sexually harassed while working in the franchise. The media also reported that there were “obscure videos produced by the team from cheerleaders’ calendar captures in 2008 and 2010.” Snyder said he was unaware of these videos.
The stories coincide with Snyder’s three minority partners, Schar, Fred Smith and Bob Rothman, who want to sell their shares. They have 40% of the combined team. Snyder reportedly offered to buy the shares for $ 900 million. According to Forbes, the Washington franchise is worth $ 3.5 billion; in a sale of the equipment, 40% would be worth $ 1.4 billion.
The NFL is conducting an independent investigation into the allegations in the Post articles. On Tuesday, the league announced that former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch would join the investigation, focusing on Schar’s alleged role in leaking information.
Snyder has alleged in previous documents that Schar was behind some negative information that was included in the articles. On Wednesday, his statement stated that “Dwight Schar channeled information about me and the team to Mary Ellen Blair, a former executive assistant to the team, to provide it to the Washington Post.”
According to Snyder, Blair testified that Schar told him he shared information with the Washington Post. Snyder’s file alleged that Schar’s daughter bought Blair a “burner phone” for “trying to escape detection of Mr. Schar’s conspiratorial communications.” He cited “numerous calls” from that phone to Schar’s cell phone number.
Snyder said there have been repeated threats from Schar and others associated with him over the past five months. Snyder said Schar threatened “my personal lawyer” in a July 25 conversation.
Snyder claimed Schar told his lawyer that information would come out if he didn’t sell the equipment, that the story “will kill Dan.”
A text by minority ownership investment banker John Moag hinted at what might come out if Snyder did not cooperate: “And you know it has nothing to do with the media … – If you want a. show, we also participate. “
Moag has confirmed to other outlets that the text was correct.
On January 7, there will be a virtual hearing before U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte on each party alleging that the other is leaking information to the media. According to the Post, Snyder, Schar, Rothman and Smith are due to appear. Snyder denied in his presentation that he had been the source of any confidential information.
“I am fighting on multiple fronts for interests that go beyond me, including for the team I love, as well as for my family,” Snyder said in the presentation, “and I can swear to this court that the allegations in which I have improperly leaked information the press is false “.