The United States' House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee will have several of their attorneys ask Roger Clemens questions concerning his involvement in the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs during his stellar career in Major League Baseball. Clemens and two of his attorneys are currently in attendance answering questions while this report is being written. The Mitchell Report, which became public last December, mentioned Mr. Clemens 82 different times leading people to conclude that Roger Clemens was indeed using illegal PHD's. Clemens then, in no uncertain terms, denied any involvement as he slammed his former personal trainer Brian McNamee who gave very damaging testamony to Senator Mitchell's investigators concerning both Roger Clemens and Clemens' former teammate on both the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, Andy Pettite.

McNamee is scheduled to meet with these same House Oversight and Government Reform Committee attorneys this Thursday to also answer questions concerning the Mitchell Report and his involvement with Clemens, Pettite and another former Yankee, Chuck Knoblauch,  who spoke to the committee's attorneys last Friday. McNamee claimed to have injected Knoblauch with Human Growth Hormones in the Mitchell Report. He also admitted to obtaining Human Growth Hormones and anabolic steroids from former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski. Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money and awaits sentencing.

"Brian's position is, 'Let's deal with the truth,'" said Earl Ward, McNamee's attorney. "That's his position." McNamee will tell Congress more about his knowledge of Clemens' use of performance-enhancing drugs, says Ward, including his belief that Clemens was treated for an abscess on his buttocks in 1998, around the time McNamee says he began injecting Clemens. According to a source, McNamee didn't initially tell federal investigators about the abscess but says he is now "willing to talk about it with Congress."

Pettite, who answered the committee attorney's questions for two and a half hours yesterday, added credence to McNamee's Mitchell Report indicments as he admitted to the use of human growth hormones on two separate occasions.  Mr. Pettite, who stated he was injected with this PHD by Brian McNamee in an effort to speed his recovery from an injury, made his public admission two days after the Mitchell Report came out.

Andy Pettite seen in a different striped suit yesterday...

Former Senator George Mitchell, who oversaw baseball's investigation into the use of PHD's in the sport, and Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, both gave public testamony in mid-January to this same committee. One pertinent question Senator Mitchell responded to concerned his thoughts on the reliability of Brian McNamee's answers to his investigator's questions. Mitchell told the committee that he felt confident McNamee had been forthright. 

In addition, Jim Murray, an employee of the sports agency that represents Clemens and Pettitte, answered the committee's questions last Thurday.

Concerning Roger Clemens, this will mark the first time he has made his pitch answering PHD questions under oath.

In every case, all the parties have and will meet with the committee's attorneys voluntarily.

All of this questioning is in preparation for a public hearing that will take place February 13th. California Representative Henry Waxman will chair the Oversight and Government Reform Committee as they attempt to get to the bottom of this phase of disclosure into America's  use of performance enhancing drugs. It should be very interesting...

Resources:

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/sports/
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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3
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http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/ya
nkees/2008/01/12/2008-01-12_source_brian_mcnamee_r
eveals_more_info_o.html