House Committee on Oversight MLB Hearings

02/06/2008 5:57 PM ET
Report: McNamee offers evidence
Trainer claims to have proof of Clemens' drug use
By Tom Singer / MLB.com

On the eve of Brian McNamee's testimony to attorneys preparing for a Congressional hearing into Roger Clemens' denial of allegations presented in the Mitchell Report, the pitcher's former trainer reportedly gave federal investigators physical evidence of Clemens' use of performance-enhancing drugs.

According to the New York Daily News, McNamee has turned over vials containing traces of steroids and human-growth hormones, blood-stained syringes and gauze pads to Justice Department BALCO investigators.

If those materials, forwarded by Justice Department officials to a laboratory for analysis, prove to contain traces of drugs and blood, prosecutors' next step could be to seek a court order for a DNA sample from Clemens.

Earl Ward, McNamee's lawyer, told the Daily News, "This is evidence the government has that we believe will corroborate Brian in every significant way."

An attorney for Clemens countered with a strong attack on McNamee's credibility.

"Brian McNamee is obviously a troubled man who is obsessed with doing everything possible to destroy Roger Clemens," said attorney Lanny Breuer in a statement. "McNamee lied to the police who were investigating him for sexual assault, he lied to Senator Mitchell, he lied to the federal government, and now he apparently has manufactured evidence. He has changed his story repeatedly on this matter. He claims to love Roger Clemens, he says he modeled being a father on Roger Clemens, he said Roger treated him like family -- but he now claims he kept blood, gauze, and needles from Roger Clemens for seven years. It defies all sensibility. It is just not credible -- who in their right mind does such a thing?

"As Roger has said under oath to Congress and to the American public, at no time did he take steroids or growth hormone. Despite the desperate smears of Brian McNamee, Roger is looking forward to testifying before Congress next week to set the record straight. He will not waiver, nor will he shrink from this because he is telling the truth. We ask all fair-minded people to listen. It is time for Brian McNamee to be subject to the same scrutiny as Roger Clemens."

This revelation comes the day before McNamee's scheduled deposition on Capital Hill, as attorneys of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform continue their rounds of interviews of witnesses due to appear at next Wednesday's hearings.

Clemens met with the attorneys for five hours on Tuesday, following interviews of former New York Yankees teammates Chuck Knoblauch on Friday and Andy Pettitte on Monday.

Another of McNamee's lawyers, Richard Emery, told the Daily News, "We will provide Congress with corroborative physical evidence that takes this case out of the he-said, she-said purview. From our point of view, this corroborates that Brian told the truth from Day One and Clemens has not."

In a brief statement to reporters following his deposition on Tuesday, Clemens said that he had testified under oath to never having used illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

The introduction of any physical evidence supporting McNamee's claims would make Clemens subject to federal charges of knowingly and willfully lying to Congress. The law in question is 18 U.S.C. 1001, which also calls for prison terms for violators of up to five years.

According to the Daily News' source -- characterized as someone close to McNamee -- the personal trainer retained the syringes, gauze pads and vials from the 2000 and 2001 seasons specifically because of concern that, should the matter ever be investigated, Clemens would deny drug use.

According to the source, Clemens' intense, orchestrated campaign of denial left McNamee with no alternative but to turn over the evidence.

Clemens' counter-campaign of denial has included, in addition to a network television interview and a high-profile media conference, a defamation suit against McNamee and a 45-page report prepared by his agents contradicting significant spikes in his performance in the time frame when the alleged injections were said to have taken place.

Clemens said the only injections administered to him by McNamee were of B-12 and lidocaine.

Laboratory tests on the material submitted by McNamee could determine whether they contained traces of illicit drugs, or of vitamins and pain killer.

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.