Law Enforcement Claims NFL Received Ray Rice Tape In April

A top law enforcement officer has said the recent security video of running back Ray Rice was made available to the NFL back in April, although the football league has denied having access to the footage that shows Rice beating his wife in a hotel elevator.

The law enforcement officer, who chose to remain anonymous due to the ongoing investigation, told the Associated Press Wednesday that he had personally emailed the infamous video to an NFL executive five months ago. The officer also provided a recorded voicemail indicating that someone in the NFL office had received and watched the video, although it has yet to be determined who that person was. 

News from the law enforcement officer comes after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the coaches of Rice's team, the Baltimore Ravens, have adamantly denied that they had viewed the video before it was released by TMZ on Monday. The video shows Rice punching and knocking out his wife Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City hotel earlier this year.

Goodell has denounced the video as "sickening," and told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday: "I don't know how TMZ or any other website gets their information."

"We are particularly reliant on law enforcement. That's the most reliable. That's the most credible. We don't seek to get that information from sources that are not credible."

The NFL also released a statement this week saying: "We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday," adding "We will look into it."