Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will call NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in front of the committee to address the destruction of evidence related to spying by the New England Patriots.
In the well publicized 'Spygate' scandal, the New England Patriots violated NFL rules by filming the New York Jets' defensive signals during their Week 1 matchup at Giants Stadium.
After reviewing the evidence, Goodell fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000. The Patriots organization was fined an additional $250,000 and was forced to forfeit a first-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft.
Following the penalties, the NFL announced that it had destroyed the tapes.
Now, Specter is calling Goodell in front of the committee to explain why he destroyed the tapes as well as to discuss the league's antitrust exemption in relation to its television contract.
While Specter told the New York Times that he was not sure when Goodell will be in front of the committee, he did say that he wrote the commissioner regarding the tapes on November 15. After a month with no response, Specter wrote to Goodell again.
The league responded to Specter late Thursday afternoon, telling him that they had not received the letter until late last week. Specter told the newspaper that the league had told his office last week that it would not respond until after the Super Bowl.
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