Clemens gives deposition, still denies steroid use

BY ANTHONY RIEBER | anthony.rieber@newsday.com

February 6, 2008

WASHINGTON - Unlike Andy Pettitte, who looked as if he was going to face the executioner, Roger Clemens actually smiled as he walked into Room 2154 of the Rayburn Office Building yesterday morning to give a deposition to the House committee investigating baseball and steroids.

When he came out five hours and 15 minutes later, Clemens wasn't smiling, perhaps because of the length of the session. But he did continue to deny ever using performance- enhancing drugs, as alleged in the Mitchell Report.

"I just want to thank the committee, the staff I just met with," Clemens said. "They were very courteous. It was great to be able to tell them what I've been saying all along, that I've never used steroids or growth hormone. I look forward to being here, I guess, in this room next week."

This isn't the first time Clemens vociferously denied the allegations made by his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, that McNamee injected him with steroids and HGH in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens did acknowledge he received injections from McNamee, but he said they were for vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine.

"Roger hasn't declined to answer a single question since this matter began, and he was completely forthcoming," one of Clemens' lawyers, Lanny Breuer, said. Clemens, Breuer said, "answered every question that was posed to him today and we very much appreciate the committee giving him that opportunity."

Before appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Clemens, who was wearing a gray pinstriped suit and red tie, didn't answer questions from the media. He did take a moment to look around the hearing room, the same one that was used for the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa steroids hearings in 2005, with its high ceiling, wood-paneled wall and oil paintings of former committee chairmen.

"It's beautiful," Clemens said.

If Clemens was worried about answering questions posed by lawyers from the committee, he didn't show it.

Pettitte, who admitted to his using HGH two days after he was named in the Mitchell Report, gave his deposition on Monday. McNamee is scheduled for tomorrow. All of the parties will appear before the full committee next Wednesday for a public hearing.

Rusty Hardin, one of Clemens' lawyers who accompanied him to Washington, said on Monday: "Roger is not going to take the Fifth Amendment. He is going to answer the committee's questions truthfully under oath."

He kind of had no choice. Lying to Congress, even in a deposition, could lead to criminal charges.

Clemens, 45, is a seven-time Cy Young Award winner and was considered a lock for the Hall of Fame before the steroid and HGH allegations surfaced in the Mitchell Report, which was released on Dec. 13. He is unsigned for 2008 after spending most of last season with the Yankees, going 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA after signing a prorated $28-million contract in May.

Former Yankee Chuck Knoblauch and an agent for the firm that represents Clemens and Pettitte, Jim Murray, previously gave depositions to lawyers for the committee. Former Mets clubhouse attendant and admitted steroid dealer Kirk Radomski, who was the key figure in the Mitchell Report, is expected to be deposed on Tuesday.

The committee announced it also will hold a hearing on Tuesday entitled "Myths and Facts about Human Growth Hormone, B-12, and Other Substances." The committee said medical experts will testify about the effects of such substances.

This story was supplemented with an Associated Press report.