Pettitte mum after testifying to steroids panel

WASHINGTON – A crucial witness in the debate over Roger Clemens’ alleged steroid use stepped out of the shadows today and onto Capitol Hill.

Wearing a pinstriped charcoal suit, flanked by his lawyers and clutching the hand of his wife, Laura, New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte arrived to meet with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating drug use in baseball.

Pettitte declined to comment during his entrance and exit from the deposition, only offering one word – “no” – when bombarded with questions after the nearly three-hour meeting.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), the committee chairman, also declined to comment.

Pettitte’s deposition was expected to focus in part on his inclusion in baseball’s Mitchell Report, and his subsequent admission that he used human growth hormone twice in 2002. Potentially more intriguing is the fact that he might have also been asked about Clemens, his teammate and close friend.

Clemens has denied all accusations of steroid and HGH use, leveled against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner by his former personal trainer Brian McNamee, who said in December’s Mitchell Report that he injected Clemens at least 16 times with steroids or HGH in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

Pettitte’s testimony could potentially corroborate one of the two accounts. He and Clemens shared McNamee as a trainer, worked out together and were considered close in both the Yankees and Houston Astros clubhouses over nine seasons together. The men, both of whom live in Houston in the off season, each left the Yankees for the Astros after the 2003 season and returned to New York for the 2007 season.

Earl Ward, a lawyer for McNamee, told the Associated Press last week that he expected Pettitte to tell Congress that he discussed human growth hormone with Clemens before the 2002 season. According to Ward, the discussion occurred at Clemens’ house and in the presence of McNamee.

That runs contrary to statements from Clemens, who said last month that he had no knowledge of what Pettitte was doing.

Today’s event brought about 40 media members to Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building. It was the prelude to Tuesday’s expected media circus when Clemens himself arrives for a transcribed interview, which is not made under oath.

Aside from Clemens, Pettitte was expected to be asked about his personal history with HGH. Former Sen. George Mitchell devoted 1½ pages in his report to McNamee’s testimony about the left-handed pitcher, and two days after the report’s release, Pettitte admitted trying HGH twice in 2002, stressing it was to heal faster and not to improve his performance. He also emphasized that he never took steroids.

“If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize,” Pettitte said in a December statement. “I accept responsibility for those two days. I have the utmost respect for baseball and have always tried to live my life in a way that would be honorable. I wasn’t looking for an edge; I was looking to heal.”

HGH wasn’t banned by baseball until 2005.

Pettitte was one of five witnesses named in the report who was invited by the House committee to testify at a hearing Feb. 13. He was initially scheduled to give his deposition last Wednesday but came to an agreement with the committee to delay his appearance until today.

The other witnesses include Clemens, the eighth-winningest pitcher in major league history, and McNamee, who is scheduled to appear Thursday. Ex-Yankee Chuck Knoblauch met with the committee for 1½ hours Friday, and former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski will submit his deposition Feb. 12. Radomski was named in the report as one of McNamee’s sources for HGH.

In addition to those five, sports agent Jim Murray gave an unscheduled transcribed statement to the committee last week. Murray was an intermediary between Clemens and McNamee.

ben.dubose@latimes.com