Woody Johnson: NFL owner and Trump ambassador to UK sparks watchdog probe over alleged racist and sexist remarks and a push to promote Trump business

Washington CNN — The billionaire NFL owner who serves as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom was investigated by the State Department watchdog after allegations that he made racist and sexist comments to staff and sought to use his government position to benefit the President’s personal business in the UK, multiple sources told CNN. Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson, the top envoy since August 2017 to one of the United States’ most important allies, made racist generalizations about Black men and questioned why the Black community celebrates Black History Month, according to exclusive new information shared with CNN by three sources and a diplomat familiar with the complaints to the State Department inspector general. A House Foreign Affairs Committee aide told CNN Wednesday that Chairman Eliot Engel “has instructed the Committee to look into this matter, and we will be seeking information from the State Department in the days ahead.” The allegations about Johnson’s remarks come as institutions across the United States – including those in the worlds of politics and sports – are facing a reckoning over the legacy of systemic racism. Asked during a White House press briefing Wednesday if he had spoken to Johnson about bringing the Open to Turnberry, Trump said he “never spoke to Woody Johnson about doing that.” State Department investigators began looking into the embassy and its leader in the fall of 2019, five sources with knowledge of the situation said, with staff from the Office of Inspector General traveling to London more than once over the past year to interview embassy workers and then Johnson himself. Three sources said Johnson questioned why the Black community would want a separate month to celebrate Black history and argued that Black fathers didn’t remain with their families and that was the “real challenge.” One source said an official who heard the remarks was “stunned” and that the incident was documented and made known to both the OIG inspectors and a supervisor.