NEW YORK (AP) – The two NFL owners overseeing the investigation into how the league pursued and handled evidence in the Ray Rice domestic violence case pledged Thursday to make the findings of the probe public, and said their goal was “to get the truth.”
New York Giants co-owner John Mara and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney, both close confidants of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, said they would not be conducting or directing the investigation. They said it would have no timeline, and that former FBI director Robert Mueller was set to begin work immediately.
They said the inquiry’s focus will be on what efforts were made to obtain video evidence of the three-time Pro Bowl running back striking his fiancee; if the video arrived at the league office; and what happened to it after it was delivered.
“Our sole motive here is to get the truth and then share Mr. Mueller’s findings with the public,” Rooney and Mara said in a joint statement.
The probe – which the league has called independent – was announced Wednesday hours after The Associated Press reported that a law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, sent a video to an NFL executive in April of Rice striking Janay Palmer at an Atlantic City casino.