After more than a year, the House Oversight Comittee’s investigation into the Washington Commanders’ workplace culture may be coming to a close.

With Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives, the GOP members of the committee — led by ranking member James Comer (R-KY) — released a statement this week all but calling the investigation off, according to Washington Post journalist Mark Maske. (Spokespeople for the committee declined to comment on the future of the investigation, and spokespeople for Comer did not immediately return DCist/WAMU’s request for comment.)

“It’s over,” the statement reportedly declared.

https://twitter.com/MarkMaske/status/1593045121414893568?s=20&t=EZWtdlV14TKZhBUMfsYHMg

And for Dan Snyder’s team, it is. On Thursday, his attorneys Stuart Nash and John Brownlee released a statement celebrating the end of the investigation.

“We applaud Representative Comer for his leadership in putting an end to the investigation into a private company, which has been correctly characterized by sitting members of Congress as a ‘farce’ and ‘an abuse of power’ for its ‘reliance on one-sided, unsupported claims,'” reads the statement, sent to DCist/WAMU by a Commanders spokesperson. It goes on to accuse the committee of largely relying on accounts from former employees who have been fired or “otherwise left the organization under acrimonious circumstances,” and ignoring evidence that refutes “the committee’s preconceived narrative.” Comer has been loud about his criticism of the investigation, calling it a waste of taxpayer dollars and a distraction from the Biden administration’s “reckless policies.”

Congress’ investigation began in the fall of 2021, after the NFL wrapped its investigation into allegations of sexual harassment at the franchise, detailed in a lengthy Washington Post report. Unsatisfied with the league’s punishment of a $10 million fine and unreleased report, House Democrats began their own probe, requesting all documents related to the NFL’s investigation, stating that the league’s handling of the accusation “raises questions about the seriousness with which it has addressed bigotry, racism, sexism, and homophobia — setting troubling precedent for other workplaces.”

Over the course of the congressional probe, lawmakers have reviewed thousands of emails and documents and have interviewed former employees. In February, the committee held a roundtable with six former employees where one, Tiffani Johnston, brought forward new allegations of sexual harassment against Snyder. (Snyder hired a private firm to investigate Johnston’s allegations.) The committee also investigated allegations of financial impropriety, according to a Washington Post report, brought forward by a former employee who said the team withheld ticket revenue that is required to be shared with the league. The team has denied any financial wrongdoing.

Both NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Snyder himself have testified before the committee. Snyder originally declined the first congressional summons to testify, but then voluntarily appeared before the committee virtually in July.

Spokespeople for the current chair of the oversight board Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY.), who launched the investigation alongside Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)  did not immediately return DCist/WAMU’s request for comment on Comer’s desire to kill the probe. According to Maske of the Washington Post, the Democrats will likely release their findings from the past several months in some form, before Republicans take over in January.

The end of the lawmakers’ investigation into the Commanders would cross off one more in a long list of probes into the team over the years. Both attorneys general of D.C. and Virginia opened their own investigations into the team this spring, and just last week, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine sued Snyder, the NFL, and Goodell for allegedly lying to local fans about the NFL’s investigation into the team’s workplace in order to protect the team’s image and bottom line. On Thursday, Racine announced a second lawsuit against the team, for withholding deposits from season-ticket holders.

Meanwhile, Snyder and co-owner Tanya Snyder are thinking about selling the team, and hired a bank to explore “potential transactions” earlier this month.