NFL: Former FBI director will investigate Ray Rice case
NEW YORK -- The NFL says former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III will conduct a probe into how the NFL handled evidence as it investigated domestic violence claims against former Ravens running back Ray Rice.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation will be overseen by NFL owners John Mara of the New York Giants and Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Goodell said that Mueller will have access to all NFL records.
The NFL's announcement came after a law enforcement official told the AP on condition of anonymity that he sent a tape of Rice striking his then-fiancee at a casino to an NFL executive in April.
The person played a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirming the video arrived. A female voice expresses thanks and says: "You're right. It's terrible."
Goodell told "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell on Tuesday that "no one in the NFL, to my knowledge" had seen a new video of what happened on the elevator until it was posted online.
"We assumed that there was a video. We asked for video. But we were never granted that opportunity," Goodell said.
The NFL has repeatedly said it asked for but could not obtain the video of Rice hitting Janay Palmer - who is now his wife - at an Atlantic City casino in February.
The league says it has no record of the video, and no one in the league office had seen it until it was released by TMZ Monday. When asked about the voicemail Wednesday, NFL officials repeated their assertion that no league official had seen the video before Monday.
"We have no knowledge of this," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told CBS News Wednesday when asked about the AP report. "We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday. We will look into it."
The person said he sent a DVD copy of the security camera video to an NFL office and included his contact information. He asked the AP not to release the name of the NFL executive, for fear that the information would identify the law enforcement official as the source.