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The NFL has ordered an independent investigation into the league's handling of evidence in the domestic-violence case that got running back Ray Rice fired from the Baltimore Ravens. It will be led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. The league announced that the probe will be overseen by two owners, Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers and John Mara of the New York Giants. League Commissioner Roger Goodell has promised that Mueller will have full access to all league records as well as the cooperation of all league personnel, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement. Rice was fired after a video surfaced of him beating Janay Palmer, his then fiancee and now wife, in an alevator.
Goodell and other NFL officials have been criticized over the league's handling of the case, with critics saying they did not respond quickly enough, and others--including the National Organization for Women--calling for Goodell to resign. The investigation was announced hours after the Associated Press reported that a law enforcement said he sent the NFL the elevator tape of Rice knocking out Palmer months ago. The NFL had denied having access to the video until TMZ posted it on Monday. "We assumed that there was a video. We asked for a video. But we were never granted that opportunity," Goodell said. But the law enforcement official played a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirming the video arrived.