This is only getting messier.
According to the Associated Press, a law enforcement official claims that he sent the now-infamous video of Ray Rice punching his fiancee in a hotel elevator to an NFL executive three months ago.
This is in stark contrast to Roger Goodell's claims that the league never saw the video and it was never made available to them, despite repeated requests.
According to the AP's Rob Maaddi:
A law enforcement official says he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee to an NFL executive three months ago, while league officers have insisted they didn't see the violent images until this week.
The person played The Associated Press 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."
The video was taken at an Atlantic City casino, and was immediately given to police during their investigation into the incident. Despite the contents of the video, no charges were ever brought against Rice.
While the NFL claimed that the video was never made available to them and obtaining it from the casino would have been "illegal", TMZ was able to obtain it for a nominal fee.
Rice was suspended for two games in response to the incident, but after the video became available he was cut by the Ravens and indefinitely suspended by the league.
Update, 5:23 PM ET: The NFL league office has issued a response:
"We have no knowledge of this. 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."
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