NFL tells members of Congress that Washington Commanders are blocking access to documents from team investigation

By Jacob Lev, CNN

Updated 0350 GMT (1150 HKT) February 11, 2022

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(CNN)NFL officials argued in a letter to two US representatives that the Washington Commanders are withholding documents pertaining to the investigation into team owner Dan Snyder.

The letter from the league's legal counsel, obtained by CNN and dated Wednesday, was to Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, and stated that the league tried to «obtain and review» approximately 109,000 team documents collected by the Wilkinson Stekloff law firm that were in possession of an e-discovery vendor used by the firm during its investigation. The league's lawyers added that the vendor refused to turn over the documents unless the team consented because of «its concern that it could be sued by the team or owner.»The House Committee for Oversight and Reform, of which Maloney and Krishnamoorthi are members, is conducting an investigation into Snyder and the team. Earlier this month, the committee sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell demanding the league cooperate with the committee's investigation and release the full findings of its internal probe.The NFL says the league, not the Washington Commanders, will investigate sexual harassment allegations against team owner Dan SnyderAccording to the letter from the league, the team did not consent. Read More«The NFL promptly directed the team to provide its consent to the vendor, but the team repeatedly has refused to do so,» the league said in the letter. «As the Committee also knows, the team has insisted that it will only authorize the vendor to