Tom Brady Wouldn't Give DeflateGate-Related Emails, Texts To Investigators

The Wells Report’s findings on DeflateGate painted a not-so-rosy picture of Tom Brady.

While Ted Wells declared in his independent investigation that it was “more probable than not” that the New England Patriots quarterback knew of the potential wrongdoing on the part of locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski, Wells wasn’t able to provide any definitive evidence. Part of the reason might be because Brady refused to give up any emails or text messages related to the investigation.

In fact, Brady, Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski and an unnamed “friend” of Jastremski’s appear to have been the only people questioned who declined requests to provide electronic information, according to the report released Wednesday. The report stated that investigators “offered to allow Brady’s counsel to screen and control the production so that it would be limited strictly to responsive materials and would not involve (their) taking possession of Brady’s telephone or other electronic devices.”

Not having electronic information from Gostkowski and Jastremski’s friend did not affect the investigation much, the report stated, as investigators believed the information obtained in interviews was sufficient. Without Brady’s texts and emails, though, the report acknowledged some missing evidence.

“Brady’s refusal to provide us with his own emails, text messages and phone records on relevant topics, in response to our narrowly tailored requests, limited the evidence available for our review and analysis,” the report said. “We believe that our findings are nevertheless supported by the evidence and information available to us during the course of our work.”