Oversight chief wants Goodell to testify

The National Football League commissioner should testify before Congress about the league’s tax-exempt status, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said Thursday night.

“I do hope in the Oversight context that they will have Roger Goodell, the NFL and the other sports leagues come testify before Congress,” he said on Fox News’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteran.” “Let them try to justify why we should let them off.”

{mosads}Chaffetz introduced legislation this week that would strip the NFL and the NHL of their tax-free status. He has picked up the torch from retired Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who proposed similar legislation in 2013.

The NFL, which paid Goodell $44 million last year and other top executives millions more, is tax exempt because it claims status as an organization that furthers an industry or profession.

“It’s wrong. It is absolutely wrong. It doesn’t pass the basic sniff test,” Chaffetz said.

Though Chaffetz suggested calling Goodell to testify about the league’s tax status, a congressional hearing featuring the commissioner could conceivably leave him vulnerable to questions about other issues plaguing the NFL.

Notably, the NFL chief has faced criticism in the last year about the way he handles player discipline. He was at the center of a controversy over the light punishment for running back Ray Rice, who was video taped striking his then-fiancee at an Atlantic City, N.J., hotel in February.

He testified before the House Judiciary Committee in 2009 about head injuries in football and faced criticism from the panel.

A Chaffetz spokeswoman said that no hearing with Goodell is scheduled.