{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://thompson.house.gov/press-release/reps-dent-and-thompson-lead-effort-make-ncaa-come-clean-penn-state-investigation", "Reps. Dent and Thompson Lead Effort to Make NCAA Come Clean on Penn State Investigation", "2014-11-19", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Glenn Thompson", "T000467", "thompson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Representatives Charlie Dent (PA-15) and Glenn \u2018GT\u2019 Thompson (PA-5) and 14 members of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation sent a letter today to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) calling for the release of all the organization\u2019s documents relating to the Consent Decree imposed upon the Pennsylvania State University.\n\tThe lawmakers decided to act in the wake of the revelation of e-mails that surfaced during the discovery process in the lawsuit brought against the NCAA by Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman and the Commonwealth\u2019s Treasurer Rob McCord.\n\tAmong the communications released was an e-mail revealing the NCAA had \u201cbluffed\u201d Penn State \u2013 a member institution that represented the gold standard of NCAA rules compliance for decades \u2013 to accept unduly punitive sanctions. Even though the matter at hand was a criminal matter and outside the NCAA\u2019s purview, their internal emails go on to state that \u201cwe [the NCAA] could try to assert jurisdiction on this issue and may be successful but it\u2019d be a stretch\u201d (emphasis added). Another e-mail revealed that NCAA staffers actively \u201cbank[ed] on the fact the school is so embarrassed they will do anything.\u201d\n\tAdditional recent news reports call into question the independence of Freeh Sporking Sullivan, LLP (Freeh Group) during its review of Penn State. While the NCAA has released selected e-mails regarding their employees\u2019 interactions with the Freeh Group, these have only led to more questions and greater doubts concerning the Freeh Group\u2019s independence.\n\tFor Dent, enough is enough. \u201cThe NCAA needs to let the sunlight in on the process it used against Penn State,\u201d he said. \u201cThey hold themselves out as an arbiter of good conduct and sportsmanship, but their tactics are those of the Star Chamber, lacking any procedural fairness, and their intent was the subversion of due process,\u201d Dent added.\n\t\u201cThe NCAA would be wise to act in a transparent manner and put all the cards on the table, before they continue to dig a bigger hole for themselves,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cIt is important for the public to know the full rationale behind the NCAA creating a new jurisdiction for themselves, and equally so, why they would collaborate with a supposedly impartial and independent investigation,\u201d added Thompson.  \n\t\u00a0  \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re going to help get to the bottom of this,\u201d Dent stated. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to be able to \u2018bluff\u2019 us into giving up and if they\u2019re \u2018banking\u2019 on our going away, the NCAA is sorely mistaken,\u201d Dent concluded.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://thompson.house.gov/press-release/reps-dent-and-thompson-lead-effort-make-ncaa-come-clean-penn-state-investigation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5148567035794258, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}