Clemens Testimony Referred to DOJ for Perjury Investigation, After AllAfter hedging a bit, Congress has decided to refer Roger Clemens to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation. They are concerned that his testimony over his alleged steroid use directly contradicts that of former trainer Brian McNamee and fellow Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte. You’d think this would be bad news for Clemens and his legal team, as a handful of U.S. leaders just basically called BS on his testimony. But we sort of suspect that his lawyers were a little bit psyched, because they got to deliver this line:
“Now we are done with the circus of public opinion, and we are moving to the courtroom,” Clemens’ lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. “Thankfully, we are now about to enter an arena where there are rules and people can be held properly accountable for outrageous statements.”
You can just hear the crack coming through between the words, as Hardin imagines himself hitting a PR homerun. No matter how good he is with words, it’s not going to fix all the damage Roger has done to himself by being bad with them.
Congress Asks DOJ to Investigate Clemens [AP]
Earlier: As Clemens’s Story Weakens, Congress Drafts Perjury Letter
the sports section
As Clemens’s Story Weakens, Congress Drafts Perjury LetterRoger Clemens’s congressional steroid testimony appears to be unraveling word-by-word and boob-by-boob just as the Times discovers that a letter is being drafted to refer Clemens to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation. The Daily News reports that a famous Yankee locker-room story about Debbie Clemens, Roger’s current wife, comparing her breast enhancements with Roger’s previous wife, Jessica, at a 1998 barbecue at Jose Canseco’s house may be proof that the pitcher was lying about not being there. Meanwhile, the Times pokes holes in Roger’s claim that he needed to privately meet with his nanny before she talked to investigators because her English is “not that good.” According to the paper, she speaks the language very well, with just an accent, which indicates that Clemens may have wanted to prep her for another reason. The letter to the DOJ has not been sent, but its mere existence is a blow to Clemens. So far, Congress has not drafted one to recommend a perjury investigation on Brian McNamee, his former trainer who has supplied the steroid allegations. But more importantly, if there is an investigation, Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte will probably be dragged into all this again to testify. Leave our Andy alone! He’s trying to put all this mess with Clemens behind him. Can’t you just let him enjoy his rebound bromance in peace?
Congress May Single Out Clemens [NYT]
the sports section
Andy Pettitte Is Delightful, DoomedBreaking news: Andy Pettitte is adorable. He’s likable, he’s sweet, he’s honest, and he may just be the victim in all of this MLB performance-enhancing drug mess. Sure, he may have received injections of human growth hormone and been forced to throw his friend and mentor Roger Clemens under the bus, but isn’t he a peach? That’s the takeaway that many viewers and fans were left with after the Yankee pitcher’s hour-long press conference yesterday, during which he answered questions about his own drug experiences but avoided directly contradicting Clemens’s assertion that he “misremembered” a conversation about steroids with the older pitcher. (He did, however, pointedly say that trainer Brian McNamee, who claims to have injected Clemens and Pettitte, “told the truth about me.”) New York’s sports columnists, on the whole, were wildly impressed with Pettitte’s humble, endearing performance — if not entirely sold on his emotional honesty.
• George Vecsey was impressed by Pettitte’s reference to biblical lessons on conscience. “[It’s] a word one does not hear on a daily basis, particularly in the big-time sports mill.” [Times]
• Will Leitch thought the performance was similar to many other vaguely apologetic sports press conferences after past scandals. But he also thought Pettitte was being honest. “He’s completely full of bullshit,” Leitch wrote. “But we nevertheless agree with him, across the board.” [Deadspin]
the sports section
Digesting the McNamee-Clemens Testimony Before CongressIf you haven’t been watching today’s drawn-out congressional hearing with former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and his ex-trainer, Brian McNamee, then you’ve been missing a whole lot of awkwardness, lies, and frustration. As expected, Clemens began his testimony by insisting that he had never been injected with human growth hormone or steroids. Shortly afterward, McNamee (sitting two seats away) maintained that Clemens did. What has followed has been an incredibly tense grilling from cranky congressmen, in which one of the two men must be lying and both seem to be constantly contradicting small elements of their previous stories. One, if not both, will most likely be charged with perjury, according to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Henry Waxman. Below, we’ve summarized what we’ve learned so far during each of the grillings by various members of the committee.