Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

pan6467 · 02-14-2008, 12:54 AM

Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so!!!!!!

Quote:

Clemens shelled by Congress
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
February 13, 2008

Dan Wetzel
Yahoo! Sports
WASHINGTON – Question by question, disputed answer by disputed answer, Roger Clemens' house of lies came tumbling down upon him Wednesday.

Whatever Clemens thought he'd get out of turning a sporting controversy into a federal case courtesy of this congressional hearing never materialized. He scored few points while getting caught up in his own words, nonsensical logic and twisted timelines, even before his friend and former teammate Andy Pettitte laid him out.

Presumably there are people in America who still believe Clemens is the only honest man in this entire sordid steroid scandal, that the entire world (friends included) decided one day to gang up and frame him, that he is just a trusting victim here, but other than those on his considerable payroll, they were hard to find anywhere near room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building on this cold, rainy day.

Clemens was doomed from the start, crushed by sworn affidavits and repeated under-oath testimony from Pettitte and his wife Laura – almost unimpeachable witnesses – who not only backed up the words of former trainer Brian McNamee, but blew Clemens' own stories out of the water.

Congressmen Henry Waxman of California and Elijah Cummings of Maryland double-teamed Clemens early, and no amount of ensuing sympathetic lawmakers, McNamee creepiness or Clemens campaign speeches could bail him out.

"I found McNamee very credible," Waxman said after the hearing. "I thought what he said had a lot of credibility."

Clemens is almost assuredly going to face federal perjury charges after he continued to stick to a story that stood in stark contrast with repeated under-oath testimony of everyone else. Once the Pettittes – and former teammate Chuck Knoblauch – backed McNamee's word over Clemens', this was no longer about he said, he said.

This was he said, everyone said.

"You understand you're under oath," Cummings kept asking Clemens, almost dumbfounded that the pitcher could be so brazen under oath.

What else could Cummings do? It was stunning to watch Clemens hang himself, trying to worm his way out from under Pettitte's testimony.

"I'm looking for an independent source to tell me what to believe," Cummings said. "There are a number of things that make (Pettitte's) testimony swing the balance over to Mr. McNamee. And a number of them come from your own words."

It was one thing for Clemens to attack the credibility of McNamee, who has his own ethical issues, but Pettitte testified not only about his own drug use. Just for honesty's sake, he admitted a few more things, and thereby became unassailable.

Clemens could only offer that Pettitte must have "misheard" or "misremembered" the detailed account Pettitte gave about Clemens telling him that he took HGH. But he had no answer for the fact that Pettitte's wife, in a sworn affidavit, said that her husband told her of the conversations at that time and the stories haven't changed.

It was a double barrel shot of destruction, the Pettittes asserting that their close friend was now not just a cheat, but a liar.

Clemens had nothing, just pathetic ramblings about how he was a great American for pitching at the Olympics, how if he was guilty of anything it was "being too nice," and throwing everyone from his agents, to his mother, to his wife under the bus of blame.

According to Clemens, this was just one big conspiracy, apparently. But he looked like a guy who's been surrounded by yes men for decades, someone so removed from reality he figured he could come to Capitol Hill, talk loud, and everyone would nod and leave him alone.

Only a couple of our most inane lawmakers bought any part of his nonsense defense.

His factual arguments were particularly ridiculous. He claimed Pettitte must be confused, because if Pettitte really thought Clemens had used HGH, he would have come and asked Clemens about the drug before taking it himself.

But Pettitte did think Clemens was using HGH and didn't discuss it with Clemens.

Cummings pointed out the failed logic behind that argument. Only to have Clemens repeat it a couple more times.

When Clemens claimed McNamee lied to save himself from prosecution, Cummings pointed out that McNamee told Pettitte about Clemens' drug use in 2002, which means he would have been predicting the future. How is that possible?

"I don’t know," Clemens said.

It was all he had, like a struggling pitcher waiting for a bullpen to come save him.

"It's hard to believe you, sir," Cummings said. "It's hard to say that; you are one of my heroes. But it's hard to believe you."

And Rep. Mark Souder after the hearings: "I found Clemens almost as believable as Rafael Palmeiro."

The lengthy hearings were predictably foolish and distracted at times, unnecessary tangents explored for no apparent reason.

In classic Washington fashion, things occasionally broke along partisan lines. Somehow Republicans and Democrats around here can't agree on anything, even the circumstances surrounding the formation of a "palpable mass" on Clemens' backside.

Clemens' best moments came when McNamee was skewered for his tendency to lie – mostly to newspaper reporters. But even that was Washington gumption; the idea that politicians should lecture anyone about telling the truth is absurd.

The most vocal grandstander was Rep. Dan Burton of rural Indiana, who absolutely skewered McNamee.

"This is really disgusting," Burton said. "I don't know what to believe. I know what I don't believe and that's you."

Strong words from a guy who while cheating on his wife knocked up his girlfriend and went years without visiting his son (though he was kind enough to cut him some checks).

But that's America and this is its pastime.

One of Clemens' chief problems was he was fighting on difficult ground. The contested points of his story centered on whether he took performance enhancing drugs, whether he told people he took them, whether he participated in witness tampering and whether he changed his under oath stories. These all were the heart of the matter here.

For McNamee, the debate was about whether he accurately remembered whether Clemens was at a party at Jose Canseco's house, a fairly unimportant detail, or whether he told tales in the newspapers, which is not a crime.

Clemens could never counter why McNamee was telling the truth about Pettitte and Knoblauch, but lying about him. Or why Pettitte was lying at all.

"Andy would have no reason to (lie)," Clemens said. "He's my friend."

Since everyone here acknowledged that one side must be lying and no one thought it was Pettitte, guess who that left with a self-imposed, ill-fated and unnecessary perjury charge on the horizon?

It ain't so Joe....... It just ain't so...... behind Eddie Cicotte you are the greatest.... you would never cheat.... illegal drug use in baseball would NEVER become a partisan schtick......THIS ISN'T JUST A PARTISAN GAME JOE....ERRR ROCKET...... It just ain't so Joe....I mean Rocket.... you didn't get hose Cy Youngs and all those rings because you CHEATED.... not you Barry....errrrrrr......I mean Roger....I mean Rocket..... no not you.....

Quote:

Clemens takes lumps on Capitol Hill: 'You're 1 of my heroes. But it's hard to believe you'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens was told he didn't sound believable. Brian McNamee was branded a "drug dealer" and reminded of past lies.

With Congress apparently split over which man's version of events is true, it could be up to the Justice Department to decide.

Clemens and McNamee, the accused and his accuser, traded contradictory stories under oath Wednesday about whether the star pitcher was injected with steroids and human growth hormone by his former personal trainer.

And while many baseball fans are turning their attention to Florida and Arizona for the first official workouts of spring training Thursday -- ready for cries of "Play ball!" instead of talk about foul play -- there is sure to be more discussion of Clemens and McNamee in the nation's capital.

"It's just sad," Clemens' former manager with the New York Yankees, Joe Torre, said in Vero Beach, Fla., on the eve of his first camp with the Los Angeles Dodgers. "I'd just like to see baseball move on right now."

After the 400-page Mitchell Report, which contained the first public airing of McNamee's allegations about Clemens, and a 4 1/2 -hour House hearing about their he-said, he-said, little is settled.

"They don't disagree on a phone call or one meeting," committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said during the hearing. "If Mr. McNamee is lying, he has acted inexcusably, and he has made Mr. Clemens an innocent victim. If Mr. Clemens isn't telling the truth, then he is acting shamefully and has smeared Mr. McNamee. I don't think there is anything in between."

Yet, afterward, Waxman told reporters: "I haven't reached any conclusions at this point" as to whether a criminal investigation is warranted.

Several congressmen said a referral from the committee isn't needed to trigger a Justice Department inquiry if prosecutors believe either man made false statements.

Sitting in the second row Wednesday was IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, a key member of the team prosecuting Barry Bonds. Bonds, baseball's home run king, was indicted in November on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from his 2003 testimony to a grand jury in which he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

It was Novitzky who last month collected used needles and bloody gauze pads that McNamee's camp turned over for testing. The trainer's lawyers call the items evidence that contains performance-enhancing drugs and Clemens' DNA. Clemens' side call the items "manufactured."

Either way, the Justice Department has them.

Former New York Yankees baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, left, is handed notes by one of his attorneys Lanny Breuer, right, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008, as Clemens testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on drug use in baseball.

McNamee told baseball investigator George Mitchell he injected Clemens 16 to 21 times with performance-enhancing drugs from 1998 to 2001. On Wednesday, McNamee said those numbers are low.

Clemens' vigorous denials about using steroids or HGH drew Congress' attention, and he repeated them Wednesday.

His reputation and Hall of Fame candidacy potentially at stake -- not to mention the possibility of criminal charges, should he lie -- Clemens said: "I have never taken steroids or HGH. No matter what we discuss here today, I am never going to have my name restored."

Sticking out his famous right arm -- the one that earned 354 major league wins, seven Cy Young Awards, $160 million -- Clemens pointed in the direction of McNamee, sitting only a few feet away.

Without looking at a man he once considered a friend, Clemens told the panel, "I have strong disagreements with what this man says about me."

Just like their stories, Clemens' Texas drawl was in strong contrast to the clipped cadences of McNamee, a former New York police officer.

"I told the investigators I injected three people -- two of whom I know confirmed my account," McNamee said. "The third is sitting at this table."

Former Clemens teammates Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch both acknowledged that McNamee was correct when he said they used performance enhancers. Both were excused from testifying, but Pettitte gave the committee a sworn affidavit in which he told the committee Clemens said nearly 10 years ago that he used HGH.

Waxman read from affidavits by Pettitte and his wife, Laura, supporting the accusations. Clemens said Pettitte "misremembers" things.

There were other revelations. Clemens' wife, Debbie, sat in the front row behind him and listened as Waxman implicated her in HGH use, citing statements by Pettitte. Clemens testified his wife took HGH once, although according to the transcript of last week's sworn deposition, Clemens told committee lawyers he didn't know of family members taking HGH.

Waxman also said Clemens might have tried to influence statements to the committee by the pitcher's former nanny.

Clemens and McNamee, by all accounts once good friends, rarely glanced at one another. When Clemens did turn to his right, it was with the Rocket's mound glare. Seated between them was the day's third witness, Charles Scheeler, a lawyer who helped compile the report on drug use in baseball headed by former Senate majority leader George Mitchell.

Debbie Clemens, wife of former New York Yankees baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, left, looks toward her husband on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008, as he testified before the House Oversight, and Government Reform committee hearing on drug use in baseball.
AP - Feb 13, 3:47 pm EST
More Photos
"Someone is lying in spectacular fashion," said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the committee's ranking Republican.

Eventually, the committee split largely along party lines, with the Democrats reserving their most pointed queries for Clemens, and the Republicans giving McNamee a rougher time.

"It's hard to believe you, sir," Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told Clemens. "I hate to say that. You're one of my heroes. But it's hard to believe."

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., told McNamee: "You're here under oath, and yet we have lie after lie after lie after lie."

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., repeatedly called McNamee a "drug dealer."

One of McNamee's lawyers, Earl Ward, called it a "public flogging."

The Mitchell Report itself was prompted by another hearing on steroids held by the same committee in the same wood-paneled room, on March 17, 2005. That is best remembered for having tarnished the reputations of Mark McGwire -- who infamously repeated, "I'm not here to talk about the past" -- and Rafael Palmeiro -- who wagged his finger and declared he never had used steroids, then failed a drug test months later.

In a reference to that day, Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., cautioned Clemens and McNamee: "It's better not to talk about the past than to lie about the past."

At times, Clemens struggled to find the right words as he was pressed by lawmakers. Toward the end, he raised his voice to interrupt Waxman's closing remarks. The chairman pounded his gavel and said, "Excuse me, but this is not your time to argue with me."

When it was over, Clemens shook hands with Davis, then left through a back door.

Clemens later told reporters: "I'm very thankful and very grateful for this day to come. I'm glad for the opportunity finally. And, you know, I hope I get -- and I know I will have -- the opportunity to come here to Washington again under different terms."

On the Net:

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1743

FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE...FREE PETE ROSE... FREE PETE ROSE...