Investigate Clemens, Congress asks DOJ

CLEMENS

WASHINGTON (AP) - Roger Clemens' vehement public denials about using steroids drew congressional scrutiny. Now his denials under oath have the Justice Department's attention.

Clemens failed to convince a House committee he was telling the truth about performancee nhancindrugs, so two congressmen asked the Justice Department to investigate whether the star pitcher committed perjury.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens' testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation."

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner gave a sworn deposition behind closed doors Feb. 5, then spoke alongside his accuser, former personal trainer Brian McNamee, at a public hearing Feb. 13.

"We are not in a position to reach a definitive judgment as to whether Mr. Clemens lied to the committee," Waxman and Davis wrote. "Our only conclusion is that significant questions have been raised about Mr. Clemens's truthfulness."

The letter said Clemens' testimony was "directly contradicted" by the sworn statements of McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with steroids and HGH at least 16 times from 1998 to 2001.

Waxman and Davis also pointed to the deposition and affidavit of Clemens' good friend and former teammate, Andy Pettitte, who told the committee Clemens "admitted to him in 1999 or 2000 that he had taken human growth hormone."

"The contradictions and conflicts in what Clemens had to say, as compared to what others had to say, raised the issues about him," Waxman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think there was an issue about Brian McNamee, but there certainly were issues about Roger Clemens."

Waxman's committee felt Clemens' repeated and vigorous denials of McNamee's allegations questioned the legitimacy of the Mitchell Report, prepared by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and released in December.

After Clemens and Mc- Namee stuck to their he-said, he-said stories under oath, it was expected that one or the other - or perhaps both - would be referred to the Justice Department for a criminal inquiry. Instead, only Clemens faces a possible perjury investigation; the committee decided not to refer McNamee.

"Now we are done with the circus of public opinion, and we are moving to the courtroom," Clemens' lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin, told the AP in a telephone interview.

"Thankfully, we are now about to enter an arena where there are rules and people can be held properly accountable for outrageous statements."

Clemens didn't answer questions Wednesday when approached by reporters at the Houston Astros' spring training camp in Kissimmee, Fla.