Roger Clemens' denials of performance-enhancing drug use to Congress will be examined by a federal grand jury, according to reports, leaving the seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher under the cloud of a possible indictment and prison time if it is proved he lied.
Clemens, 46, has denied statements made in baseball's 2007 Mitchell Report by his former trainer Brian McNamee, who claimed he injected the pitcher with steroids and human growth hormone during Clemens' playing days. Clemens called a news conference to label McNamee's claims as lies, then appeared before a House subcommittee with McNamee in February to again say, under oath, that he was clean.
"Let me be clear," Clemens told committee members. "I have never taken steroids or HGH."
Lying to Congress is a federal crime that could lead to prison time if Clemens is indicted and convicted.
McNamee's attorney, Earl Ward, said his client has not received a subpoena, but that grand jury involvement would represent "an opportunity for vindication." Clemens sued McNamee for defamation after the trainer made a deal with federal law enforcement authorities to avoid steroid distribution charges by disclosing truthful information to federal agents. He also agreed to cooperate with Mitchell investigators.
ESPN.com was first to report that a federal grand jury in Washington had been convened, with witnesses being subpoenaed to provide testimony as soon as this week and evidence presented by U.S. Atty. Daniel P. Butler. The Associated Press later reported that two people briefed on the matter confirmed the investigation. The sources declined to be identified, the AP reported, because proceedings are supposed to be secret.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington said that Butler was declining to comment and that the office would have "no comment on pending matters."
"We don't know anything about this, but it is no surprise," Clemens' lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin, told the AP through spokesman Patrick Dorton. "It's part of what a prosecutor does."
It's been nearly a year since Congress responded to Clemens' denials of performance-enhancing drug use by holding a hearing, with both the pitcher and McNamee taking the stand under oath. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) said at the start of the hearing that Clemens had made statements in a deposition "we know are untrue," and Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Virginia) commented, "Someone is lying in spectacular fashion."
