Congress Seeks Clemens Perjury Probe
Congress will ask the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens made false statements under oath to a House committee.
CBS News has learned that the chairman and the top Republican on the oversight committee have sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey requesting a perjury investigation because they think Clemens lied when he said he never took steroids or human growth hormone.
In that letter, Democrat Henry Waxman and Republican Tom Davis said they believe that Clemens' sworn denial that he ever used anabolic steroids or human growth hormones "warrants further investigation."
"That testimony is directly contradicted by the sworn testimony of Brian McNamee, who testified that he personally injected Mr. Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone," the congressmen wrote.
"Mr. Clemens's testimony is also contradicted by the sworn deposition testimony and affidavit submitted to the committee by Andrew Pettitte, a former teammate of Mr. Clemens, whose testimony and affidavit reported that Mr. Clemens had admitted to him in 1999 or 2000 that he had taken human growth hormone."
Earlier this month, Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee made contradictory statements to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
After a 4½-hour hearing on Feb. 13, Congress settled for a draw in a he-said, he-said between the two men over whether the seven-time Cy Young Award winner used performance-enhancing drugs.
It was Clemens' denials of McNamee's allegations in the Mitchell Report that drew Congress' attention.
The Feb. 13 hearing generally divided along party lines, with Democrats giving Clemens a rougher time, and Republicans reserving their toughest questions for McNamee.
But Waxman and Davis jointly appealed to the Justice Department.
"For the good of the investigation and integrity of the committee, we've asked the Department of Justice to get to the bottom of this," Davis said.
In Florida, Clemens refused for the second day in a row to comment on his denials of steroid use.
When arriving at the Houston Astros' minor-league training complex in Kissimmee, Florida, today, Clemens said "I did all I'm gonna do yesterday."
The seven-time Cy Young Award winner plans to pitch batting practice over the next three days to Astros minor leaguers, including his oldest son, catcher Koby Clemens. He has a personal services contract with the Astros that kicks in when he officially retires.