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Clemens referred to Justice for perjury investigation |
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By Kevin Bogardus
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Posted: 02/27/08 01:43 PM [ET] |
Congressional leaders asked the Justice Department Wednesday to investigate whether pitching star Roger Clemens lied under oath when testifying to lawmakers.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and the panel’s ranking member, Tom Davis (R-Va.), sent a joint letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey seeking a possible perjury charge against the Major League Baseball (MLB) player.
Two weeks ago, the seven-time Cy Young winner testified before the committee about his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and human growth hormone (HGH). Clemens denied he ever used such drugs — statements that directly contradict testimony from his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Both were summoned to testify this month after Clemens’s name surfaced in a report on steroid use in baseball drafted by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-Maine).
“We believe that his testimony in a sworn deposition on February 5, 2008, and at a hearing on February 13, 2008, that he never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone, warrants further investigation,” wrote Waxman and Davis in their letter to Mukasey.
The two lawmakers note in their letter that Clemens’s statements conflict with sworn testimony given by McNamee and Andy Pettitte, a former teammate of Clemens’s and a close friend. Pettitte told congressional investigators that McNamee told him in two different conversations that Clemens had obtained performance-enhancing drugs. Pettitte also said Clemens had admitted to him that he had used HGH.
“My main concern is the integrity of the Committee’s proceedings,” said Davis in a separate statement. “The record speaks for itself, and it tells me the question of Mr. Clemens’s truthfulness demands further analysis by law enforcement under a process that protect the rights of all parties.”
Beyond whether Clemens lied about taking HGH or steroids, the two members also point out several other areas where the pitcher might have been less than truthful with the committee, such as if he was given pain injections by team trainers or whether he was ever contacted by Mitchell or the ex-senator’s staff to discuss his investigation.
“Perjury and false statements before Congress are crimes that undermine the integrity of congressional inquires,” wrote Waxman and Davis in their letter. “For these reasons, we take evidence that a witness may have intentionally misled the Committee extremely seriously.”
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