Once Bound for Cooperstown, Now Headed to a Courtroom
Roger Clemens, right, testified before a House committee in February 2008 about performance-enhancing drugs. His accuser, the trainer Brian McNamee, left, also appeared.
NYT
Days before Roger Clemens was to testify before a House committee in February 2008, Congressional leaders gave him one final chance to change his mind and not speak publicly.
For two months, Clemens had openly questioned the veracity of George J. Mitchell’s report and its allegations that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. But as the hearing approached, lawmakers realized that Clemens’s testimony was not necessary because he — and other witnesses — had already given detailed depositions.
On Thursday, Tom Davis, the former congressman from Virginia, recalled telling Clemens and his lawyers, “We’ll give you a chance to clear your name, but you don’t have to do this.” At the time, Davis was the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which called the hearing.
Clemens chose to testify anyway and soon after, Davis and Henry A. Waxman, the committee chairman, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens had lied under oath. A federal grand jury indicted Clemens on Thursday on charges of perjury and making false statements stemming from his testimony.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Although I do think that pro athletes need to be held accountable against the performance-enhancing drug ban, it still seems strange that Congress is the one dealing with it. It's not like they have other, more pressing matters to deal with that, such as unemployment, war, immigration, etc.
But I suppose that is besides the point, about the issue at hand. Clemens lied, he should be punished. As my mom used to always remind me with "oh what wicked webs we weave, when first we practice to deceive".
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