New York Yankees' Andy Pettitte Meets With Congress To Discuss Steroid Use

WASHINGTON — Not one of Roger Clemens' flat-out denials about using steroids or human growth hormone was delivered while he spoke under oath. Now he gets that chance.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner is scheduled to give a deposition to lawyers from a congressional committee behind closed doors Tuesday, one day after his former New York Yankees teammate and workout partner Andy Pettitte delivered sworn testimony for about 2 1/2 hours.

Both pitchers' private interviews with staff members from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are part of preparation for a Feb. 13 hearing. That public session is expected to focus on allegations made in the Mitchell Report by trainer Brian McNamee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with performance enhancers.

The 45-year-old Clemens ranks eighth in major league history with 354 career wins. He put off retirement yet again in 2007, returning to the Yankees in June and going 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA.

"Roger is not going to take the Fifth Amendment," one of Clemens' lawyers, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement e-mailed by spokesman Joe Householder. "He is going to answer the committee's questions truthfully under oath."

McNamee is to appear Thursday. One of his lawyers, Earl Ward, said no decision had been made on whether he would submit to a deposition or transcribed interview. It is a crime to lie to Congress, whether sworn to tell the truth or not, so the distinction between the two has more to do with the format of the questioning and the confidentiality of the transcript.

Pettitte, who chose to be deposed, did not take questions from reporters afterward as he walked from committee offices to an elevator in the Rayburn House Office Building. Wearing a pinstriped gray suit and bright striped tie, Pettitte was accompanied by his wife and three lawyers.

"At the committee's request, Andy Pettitte voluntarily met with representatives of the committee this morning, and fully answered all of the inquiries made of him in a sworn deposition," two of Pettitte's lawyers, Jay Reisinger and Thomas Farrell, said in a statement. "Out of respect for the sensitive nature of these proceedings, and out of deference to the committee's request for confidentiality, we, on behalf of Mr. Pettitte, will not comment on the nature or specifics of his testimony."

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Staff members for the committee declined to comment.

McNamee told former Senate majority leader George Mitchell he injected Pettitte with HGH. Pettitte lent credence to Mitchell's findings by acknowledging two days after the report was released in December that he did try HGH for two days in 2002 to help deal with an elbow injury.

The committee announced Monday it will hold yet another hearing Feb. 12, 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.

A former Yankees teammate of Pettitte and Clemens, Chuck Knoblauch, spoke to committee staff Friday. The day before, an employee of the sports agency that represents Clemens and Pettitte went to Capitol Hill to be interviewed.

McNamee said he injected Clemens with HGH and steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens has repeatedly and vigorously denied that, including in a recorded television interview and a live news conference _ as well as through his lawyers. Clemens did acknowledge he received injections from McNamee, but he said they were for vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine.

When Mitchell testified at a committee hearing Jan. 15, he was asked whether he was still comfortable with McNamee's credibility.

"We believe that the statements provided to us were truthful," Mitchell said.

McNamee also said he acquired HGH from former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski for Knoblauch in 2001 _ and McNamee said he injected Knoblauch with HGH. Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, then speak to committee staff on Feb. 12.

Last week, Ward said he believed Pettitte would tell Congress he discussed HGH with Clemens between the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Ward said Pettitte talked about HGH with McNamee following a conversation with Clemens.

Richard Emery, another lawyer for McNamee, has said the trainer and Pettitte also discussed steroids use by Clemens.

The 35-year-old Pettitte, who won four championships with the Yankees then helped the Houston Astros reach their first World Series, returned to New York last season and went 15-9. This offseason, he agreed to a $16 million, one-year contract to play for the Yankees in 2008.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

Comments

[Jaybot]

It just goes to show, controlled by Democrat or Republican, Congress is completely out of touch. Out of touch with their responsibilities, their constituents and reality in general. Is it even worth trying anymore?

[willo]

Just rediculous. Maybe if they gave some steroids to the congressmen they could act like men for a while.

[losangelian1]

This is such a non-issue. Aren't there bigger things for our government to focus on?

[guajiro]

Time to let the damn baseball commissioner go. While it was still slightly under the table, he could have gotten the union involved and gradually implemented human growth hormone and steroid penalties and eliminated them from the game. BUT NOOOOO, he had to make a spectacle of the game of baseball in his rabid attack on Barry Bonds and the loss of yet another "white" milestone to him. While not overtly racist and probably mostly imbued with antagonism at Bond's refusal to bend the knee at the mere mention of him, this corporate hack, this miniature of a leader, this bitter commissioner is symbolic of the era of steroids in it's entirety.

[NABNYC]

What a crowd of overpaid, unintelligent, pampered, useless, brain-numb, drunk, drug addicts, and losers.

Not the baseball players. I love baseball.

I'm talking about Congress. WTF are these politicians doing spending years -- this has gone on for years -- holding fan club meetings in D.C., inviting all the top players in so they can get their picture taken with them and use it in their next campaign. What a waste of time. They are garbage, and they have no shame.

Baseball players took steroids? That's nothing. Most of these people in Congress take bribes every day to look the other way and sell out the people of this country. Hmmm. Treason? or Human growth hormones? Which deserves our condemnation?

We have a war going on folks. Wake up. Better still, end it, bring all the troops home and we'll all go to a baseball game. And get our pictures taken with our favorite players.

[SmootyBooty]

Congress is capable of holding hearings and doing the people's business while they look into this. Let's face it folks, the republics are obstructing the passage of ANY leguslation beneficial to the working people of America anyway. And tough noogies for the over paid arrested adolescents of SPORTS!

[screwedrus]

I'm just thrilled that congress will break the fricking sound barrier to jump all over something as useless and inconsequential as a baseball scandal. But that same congress sure as shit won't touch things like Blackwater, billions of missing dollars, the too many to name administration scandals and more with a ten foot pole.

This is a waste of taxpayers money, and it's nothing but a smokescreen to keep our minds off the fact that our economy has been destroyed, our constitution has been raped and our safety has been compromised so that those that breathe the rarified air of the rich can benefit financially.

To actually care about these hearings in the face of everything else that's wrong is amazing.

[GrouchoMarxist]

Gee. I wonder how pathetic Pettitte's fastball would have been without the 'roids. It was bad enough while he was on them.

[Ginzaman]

First, just wait for the leak from an "undisclosed source", then we'll know more. Second, now it's a battle between the top players to see who lasts the longest. Which means that pretty soon the long-standaing rule of you don't rat somebody else out will be out the window. It still won't change anything.

[larry278]

OK, MLB is a business pretending to be a sport. The record books can cater to the naive by putting type lice before each name of every record after 'roids were introduced into the real world of MLB whenever. Put multiple type lice before the names of MLB's commisioner & MLB owners, aka the Lords of Baseball.
WTF cares? I await the start of spring training in Fl & Az, the season, play offs & the Series as a junkie with a bad jones waits for a fix. Play ball! Play fake brawls that wouldn't be tolerated or shown by WWE, etc! Don't buy me any Cracker Jack or warm flat beer! I'll get a cold one during the commercials. I like a hot, grilled brat better than boiled, flacid dogs on a stale bun. I'll keep the sound off unless Joe Buck or Tim McCarver are on. The flatulent comments of MLB's 'talking heads' are as bad as the late Harry Caray. "It might be, it could be, fish farts.". "Don't take me to the brawl game."; I want it on my big screen HD, TV with classical music playing, with my AC going, cold drink & hot brat at hand.

[dmac]

As long as MLB is exempt from the anti-trust laws, this is Congress' business. Of course, had MLB cleaned their own houes, it wouldn't be necessary. Use of these steroids, HGH, and several other PEDs named (without a recognized medical reason and prescribed for same) is against Federal law.

Of course it's not The Most Important Thing Congress should be dealing with. That doesn't change the fact that they are right to investigate.

[Mark701]

Shouldn't the baseball commisioner be dealing with this?? Why is congress sticking their nose into this yet they refuse to investigate Bush's little tirade in Iraq or stuff like illegal spying on Americans??? Pursuing this kind of garbage makes them look foolish.

[VivaZapata]

It's so obvious that so many of these guys have been juiced up, and you wonder if some of the so called "mediocre" players were not just at a disadvantage (assuming of course they too weren't on steroids. Petite's claim of limited usage doesn't measure up to the big body he developed. Yikes, even McGuire who was a big boy when he came up was tiny compared to what he became. Throw out the record books for the last twenty years. Contract the major leagues and develop football's more balanced team approach.

[AnOutlier]

Congress has time to debate steroids, but it impeachment is off the table.

Earth to Congress, Earth to Congress . . . is any one home?

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

The glory goes to Jeebus, not the syringe, right Andy?