N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell will travel to Washington on Wednesday to meet with Senator Arlen Specter for a discussion about the league’s investigation into the Patriots’ spying on other teams.

“I have a lot of questions,” Specter said. “I’m hoping to get some answers.”

Specter, of Pennsylvania, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He first requested a meeting with Goodell in a letter in November. Specter wanted to know why the league had destroyed all evidence in the spying case and whether there was any indication that the Patriots had cheated when they played the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Specter called the 3 p.m. meeting with Goodell a “private conversation.” He stopped short of saying the Judiciary Committee would call anyone to testify.

The Patriots were caught filming the Jets’ defensive signals in the teams’ season opener Sept. 9 at Giants Stadium. The league asked the Patriots to turn over any material related to spying. The league received notes and six tapes, mostly from the 2006 season, then destroyed them.