WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent over 40 former Washington Commanders employees, sent a letter to House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer demanding the removal of sexualized and salacious photographs of former cheerleaders of the Washington Commanders and other women from Congressional servers, websites, and if applicable, the Congressional record. 

These photographs, which show women’s breasts, buttocks and genital areas, were disseminated without the women’s permission in Ranking Member Comer’s Memorandum dated December 7, 2022. Copies of the letter were also sent to Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and top House Republican Leadership. 

The lawyers wrote:

“Our clients are both humiliated and incensed by the GOP’s reckless dissemination of these photographs in an official Congressional document.  They also feel retaliated against by Republican Committee members who have apparently chosen to embarrass them publicly for coming forward.  There was simply no legitimate reason for GOP members to have done this, and it has caused our clients additional and unnecessary pain.  Our clients believe that releasing these photos was a desperate effort to protect Mr. Snyder from the scathing findings contained in the Committee’s final report, at their expense.   

“We must also note that if Republican Committee members truly believed that Mr. Allen’s distribution of these emails and images – which your memorandum describes as “incredibly offensive” – proves that it was he who created the sexually hostile work environment at the team, why would they think it appropriate to disseminate these sexualized images even more broadly in an official Congressional document?  Obviously these photographs could have been referenced in the memorandum but not attached.  Rather than show consideration to the many women who came forward to the Committee to share their experiences of objectification and sexual exploitation while employed by the team, Republican members of the Committee chose to subject them to more of the same.” 

The full letter is available HERE.