WASHINGTON -- Two months after being accused of using steroids, Roger Clemens faces off against his accuser at a hearing today with his reputation at stake and law enforcement authorities ready to pounce if either is found to be lying.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform could recommend sometime after today's highly anticipated hearing that the Justice Department open a perjury investigation focused on Clemens or trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee says he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with steroids and human growth hormone, a charge Clemens has vehemently denied.
Clemens' problems could get worse because New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte said in a sworn affidavit to Congress that his former teammate told him nearly 10 years ago that he used human growth hormone, the Associated Press was told yesterday.
Even if the committee doesn't make a recommendation, the Justice Department could act on its own. "We don't need to refer anything even if it's apparent someone's lying," a committee staff member said yesterday.
"Justice is watching and can make its own decisions," said the staff member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the hearing has not yet been held.
The FBI opened a preliminary investigation last month into whether former Orioles All-Star Miguel Tejada, now with the Houston Astros, lied in 2005 when he denied ever using steroids or knowing about other players who took the drugs.
The Tejada investigation is "still ongoing," Justice Department spokesman Paul Bresson said. He declined to comment on whether the department was monitoring Clemens and McNamee.
"As a general rule, we don't need a referral from the Hill to initiate an investigation, although that's often how it works," Bresson said.
Clemens and McNamee will testify in the same high-ceilinged, wood-paneled room in which former Orioles star Rafael Palmeiro famously wagged his finger in March 2005 and said he had never used steroids. He was suspended for 10 days after testing positive for a steroid in May of that year.
One of the other players who testified at that 2005 hearing, former slugger and admitted steroid user Jose Canseco, backed Clemens in a sworn affidavit given to the committee, saying he has never seen Clemens "use, possess or ask for steroids or human growth hormone," the Associated Press reported.
