Clemens, Pettitte, McNamee Asked to Testify in Congress

Jan 05, 07:23 AM

By Howard Fendrich

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Now Roger Clemens gets a chance to tell his side of the story under oath. So does Andy Pettitte. And their former trainer, Brian McNamee, too.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, was asked Friday to testify before a congressional committee looking into the Mitchell Report , nearly three years after the same panel brought sluggers Mark Mc-Gwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro to Capitol Hill.

Also invited to appear on Jan. 16 were Clemens' former Yankees teammates Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch; McNamee, who has said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone; and former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, whose allegations were central to the findings released last month by former Senate majority leader George Mitchell.

Although no one had agreed to show up , the committee's announcement listed Clemens and others under the heading, "Witnesses will include."

"Roger is willing to answer questions, including those posed to him while under oath," said Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin. "We hope to determine shortly if schedules and other commitments can accommodate the committee on that date."

Said the committee's minority staff director, David Marin: "We always presume that invited witnesses will appear."

That session will take place one day after the lawmakers are to hear testimony from Mitchell, baseball commissioner Bud Selig and union leader Donald Fehr.

McNamee told Mitchell he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998 while they were with Toronto, and with steroids and human growth hormone in 2000 and '01 while with New York.

Clemens issued a video statement denying McNamee's accusations. In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" to be aired Sunday , Clemens admits he was injected by McNamee but with painkillers and vitamin B- 12 - not performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens told CBS that McNamee's accusation was "ridiculous" and said he never used banned substances.

(c) 2008 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Clemens, Pettitte, McNamee Asked to Testify in Congress
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