Congress Asks Clemens, Pettitte To Testify

(CBS/AP)  Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were asked Friday to testify before a congressional committee on Jan. 16, along with their former trainer, Brian McNamee.

Also invited to appear before the House Oversight Committee were former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, whose allegations were a central part of last month's Mitchell report on doping in baseball. Former All-Star second baseman Chuck Knoblauch also was asked to speak to the panel.

"It could be a circus with players, true," the committee's minority staff director, David Marin, said in a telephone interview. "But if you tailor it right and invite people who clearly have pertinent information about the substance of the report, then it's anything but a circus. It's substantive. That's what Democrats and Republicans have agreed to here."

A day earlier, the committee is to hear testimony from baseball commissioner Bud Selig, union leader Donald Fehr and former Senate majority leader George Mitchell.

"The original hearing was called to examine the Mitchell recommendations and findings. The committee has decided to hold a second day of hearings for the very same reason — to invite people with varying perspectives on the Mitchell report to shed further light on it," Marin said.

McNamee told Mitchell he had injected seven-time Cy Young Award winner Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone during the 1998, 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Clemens denies he cheated by using banned substances and told CBS' 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace that McNamee only injected him with the painkiller lidocaine and the vitamin B-12.

Pettitte acknowledged McNamee injected him with HGH twice while the pitcher was recovering from an injury.

McNamee told Mitchell he acquired HGH from Radomski for Knoblauch in 2001, and that he injected him with it.

Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, and he is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 8.

Although none of the people asked to testify under oath Jan. 16 had agreed to appear as of late Friday afternoon, the committee's announcement listed Clemens and others under the heading, "Witnesses will include."

Said Marin: "We always presume that invited witnesses will appear."

E-mails to attorneys for Clemens and McNamee and a phone call to Radomski's lawyer were not immediately returned.

This is the same panel of lawmakers that convened the March 2005 hearing where Mark McGwire refused to say whether he had used performance-enhancing drugs. Sammy Sosa said he had never knowingly used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, while Rafael Palmeiro denied using drugs but tested positive later that year for a steroid.

The leaders of the committee, California Democrat Henry Waxman and Virginia Republican Tom Davis, were among several members of the House and Senate who sponsored legislation in 2005, proposing to mandate stronger steroid testing and penalties for baseball and other U.S. professional sports leagues.

Another committee has scheduled a Jan. 23 hearing on the Mitchell report.

[Krazcarl]

Iceman no you think anyone cares a bout a drug addict don''t care how clean his cloths are he''s an addict should be in prison.

[sgtrds]

Why bother watching anymore? It was bad enough when baseball became a game of spoiled whiny millionaires in love with themselves and not giving a da*mn about the team or the fans. Now to watch those same overgrown brats on drugs makes it even less worth the effort.

[iceman_1960]

"Mark McGwire married Stephanie Slemer, a former pharmaceutical sales representative from the St. Louis area, in Las Vegas on April 20, 2002.

They reside in a gated community in Shady Canyon Irvine, California and together created the Mark McGwire Foundation for Children to support agencies that work with children who have been s*exually and physically abused to help come to terms with his difficult childhood.

McGwire currently avoids the media. He spends much of his free time playing golf. He is an exceptional golfer and it has been rumored that he will try to qualify for the Senior PGA Tour when he turns 50 in 2013."

- Wikipedia

[Krazcarl]

This what drug addicts look like.

[iceman_1960]

"Testosterone propionate is mentioned in a letter to the editor of Strength and Health magazine in 1938; this is the earliest known reference to an anabolic steroid in a U.S. weightlifting or bodybuilding magazine." - Wikipedia

All sports records and achievements since then have now been put under a cloud of doubt.

How unfortunate for the many athletes who played by the rules.

[baileyccc]

Clemens should have come out like Pettitte did. Now he joins the ranks of McQuire. No demand for speeches in his future.

[dsr57]

Really, congress needs to put their handds into baseball? Baseball is either with us or against us, I don''t want to hear another word about baseball until our military has pounded it into submission

[tech597]

I have known Roger for a couple of years. Even if he had taken drugs that helped him overcome injuries, should we castrate him for doing so? If you were in his position and had an injury, wouldn''t you take what was recommended to help with the pain and the recovery? Come on people, wake up! This is about injuries and the remedies that are out there for them rather than illegal drug use. I am sure that if Roger was given drugs to help work through the injuries to a recovery, that was the purpose, not that he was trying to do illegal enhancements to his performance. The man is only a man. He gets hurt, he is pressured to perform, he takes what his trainers and doctors give him so that he can recover and do his job. Wouldn''t you? If you wouldn''t, then you aren''t human!

[searingtruth]

Ummmm .....

Hey, baseballs great.

But The Constitution of the United States of America is greater.

How about if Congress concentrates on restoring it, and the rule of law it embraces, before worrying about sports?

Just a thought.

An American one.
ST


"I writhed in anguish for years. Always knowing pain was coming, but never knowing what I should attempt to say next, or how I should appear so that my American torturers would believe me.

The problem was that I was innocent."
SearingTruth


"When Nancy Pelosi said ''impeachment is off the table'' she was invoking the Fifth Amendment."
SearingTruth


"We became evil to fight evil, assuring its victory."
SearingTruth


A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[ramos937]

I do not really like baseball but many people do. During the first press conference, Mitchell stated that he personally had invited every named player to call him or visit him to give his side of the story - none took him up on his offer including Clemens. This speaks volumnes of to whether he did or did not take steroids. When the report did come out, Clemens denied everything. Now he does admit taking shots from him.

When Clemens testifies before Congress, he will be under oath. If he pulls a "McGwire" or takes the 5th, he is guilty. If he denies under oath not taking steroids in any way shape or form, he is probably innocent.