WASHINGTON -- The Pittsburgh Steelers may be ready to put "Spygate" behind them, but U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter doesn't feel the same way.

"Everybody pooh-poohs it," Specter said Wednesday. "It's ridiculous to make that kind of contention."

Specter called for an independent investigation of the New England Patriots' taping of opposing coaches' signals during games -- including at least one game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Frankly, I'm incensed about what happened with the Steelers," said Specter, R-Pa., while criticizing the league's handling of the investigation.

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Specter, who met with ex-Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh one day earlier, asked the NFL to have an outside agency look into the situation. He also threatened the possibility of revoking the league's antitrust exemption.

While it was already known that the Patriots taped the Steelers' coaching signs during their victory in the 2002 AFC championship game, Specter said Walsh told him he saw New England staff members tape two other Patriots-Steelers games -- Sept. 9, 2002, and Oct. 31, 2004.

"The Patriots had notes of the Steelers-Patriots game, and the notes were destroyed," said Specter. "Why destroy the notes?"

On Tuesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he considered the league's investigation to be all but closed after a three-hour meeting with Walsh.

Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney said he was satisfied with how things went during the Goodell-Walsh meeting, adding that the team was ready to move on and focus on the upcoming season.

"I have a little different perspective than they do," Specter said. "I'm elected by 12 million people, and a lot of them are Steelers fans."

Goodell said videotapes that Walsh turned over to the NFL were consistent with what the league already knew last September when it fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000, the Patriots $250,000 and stripped the team of its first-round draft choice.

Specter cited the fact that a Patriots attorney sat in on Walsh's meeting with Goodell to support his claim that the NFL's investigation has not been impartial.

Specter also repeated his disapproval of Goodell's decision to destroy notes and tapes confiscated during the league's initial investigation last fall.

"The sequence is really incomprehensible," Specter said. "It's really an insult to the intelligence to the people who follow it."

If Goodell does not order an independent investigation, Specter said he will ask Congress to do something about it -- which could include public hearings.

"They owe the public a lot more candor and a lot more credibility," Specter said.