Guess what? Clemens lied on "60 Minutes"

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/01/clemens_lied_on_60_minutes.html

Debate all you want whether Roger Clemens is lying about never using steroids. But I have it on good authority that he lied about something else on "60 Minutes."

And that's when he found out about the Mitchell Report.

According to a person familiar with the situation, when Brian McNamee found out several days before the release of the Mitchell Report that his testimony was going to be included, he reached out to Clemens. I do not know if he actually spoke with Clemens. But two days later two private investigators, representing Clemens, were at McNamee's door to find out what he told Mitchell. McNamee spoke to them.

Obviously, Clemens knew what was going on. Yet when Mike Wallace asked if he knew anything about the Mitchell Report prior to its release, he said he did not.

After reading the pdf files of the defamation lawsuit Clemens filed against McNamee last night, I am certain the quotes from McNamee were acquired by Clemens' team of investigators when they met with McNamee just before the Mitchell Report's release.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/
UPDATE, 7:56 p.m.: Over on Sports Illustrated.com, Jon Heyman has an exclusive interview with Brian McNamee.

The story has this passage: “His eyes maneuver between his 23-inch television and a computer monitor that is providing minute-by-minute reviews of Clemens’ interview. The trainer reads aloud from e-mails that are supportive of him.”

Is there any chance McNamee was reading the live blog we had here last night? Interesting if he was.

Well, Brian, if you are reading the blog and want to explain your side to a big audience, we’re here for you. I’ll be in touch.

Clemens apparently was lying to Mike Wallace:

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The New York Daily News also reported on Monday that days before the scheduled release of the Mitchell Report Clemens' investigators asked McNamee whether he would be willing to recant.

McNamee reportedly called Clemens and Pettitte to warn them that he had spoken to the government. During an interview on "60 Minutes" which aired on Sunday night, Clemens denied knowing that he would be named by Mitchell.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3185494

-----

He told Wallace that he was blind-sided and had no idea. Why the lies Rocket?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3185494



Roger Clemens repeatedly denied using steroids during a telephone conversation with Brian McNamee, but the former trainer would not confirm or deny his claims.

On Monday in Houston, Clemens and his lawyer played a tape of a 17-minute conversation between the pitcher and trainer last week as Clemens continues his defense of allegations in the Mitchell report that he used performance-enchancing drugs.

McNamee told the Mitchell Commission that he injected the seven-time Cy Young award winner with steroids and human growth hormone 16-21 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens asserts that the trainer only injected him with the painkiller lidocaine and the vitamin B-12.

"For the life of me I'm trying to figure out why you told guys I did steroids," Clemens said to McNamee on the tape.

"I understand that," McNamee responded.

Over and over, Clemens makes statements like, "I just want the truth out there and like I said, I can't believe what is being said," and, "Just the stuff I'm reading and hearing, so much of it is untrue and it's just tearing everyone apart."

But McNamee never says that he lied to the Mitchell Commission regarding Clemens' alleged steroid use. He does repeatedly ask what he can do for Clemens -- 21 times to be exact.

"I'm telling the truth and I want it out there," Clemens said, and McNamee responded, "Tell me what you want me to do. I'll go to jail. I'll do whatever you want."

At no point in the conversation does McNamee say that he would be willing to say that Clemens did not take steroids, and Clemens does not ask him to.

Asked why Clemens never directly answered the "what do you want me to do" question, his attorney, Rusty Hardin, said:

"The last thing Roger wanted, just as we did, was any suggestion that we were trying to interfere or coerce a federal witness. So, yeah, all he kept saying [was] nothing. Except you hear him throughout saying, 'Tell the truth.'"

It is not clear if McNamee knew the conversation was being recorded. Under state law in New York and Texas, only one party has to give consent for a phone conversation to be taped.

McNamee is obviously distraught in the profanity-laced conversation. Saying his son is sick and that he has no money, McNamee said, "I want it to go away. I'm with you in your corner ... but I also don't want to go to jail. It has nothing to do with you."

Richard Emery, one of McNamee's lawyers, said Brian McNamee Jr., 10, has celiac disease, which damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.

"It's outrageous and disgusting for them to for their own cynical purposes, to perpetuate a continuing lie, to use this child and splay his disease and disability all over the press for the world to know," Emery said. "It just shows they'll go to any lengths."

As for his money problems, McNamee said: "I'm not doing a book deal. I got offered seven figures to go on TV. I didn't do it. I didn't take it. I didn't do anything. All I did was what I thought was right -- I never thought it was right, but I thought that I had no other choice, put it that way."

McNamee says a number of times that he would "like to sit down in person with you."

Clemens does not agree to meet, instead saying, "Just give me a little time."

Another of McNamee's lawyers, Earl Ward, told Andrew Marchand of ESPN 1050 radio in New York that "the tape adds absolutely nothing."

He also said that McNamee will not speak again until he testifies Jan. 16 to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

As for his reaction to learning that McNamee had spoken with Clemens, Ward said, "I was surprised. I wasn't pleased."

After the tape was played, Hardin said Clemens was willing to speak to Congress. Clemens and McNamee were invited to Washington along with Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Kirk Radomski, the former Mets' clubhouse attendant alleged to have provided McNamee with performance-enhancing drugs.

"I'm going to Congress and I'm going to tell the truth," Clemens said.

The committee planned to ask Clemens' representatives for the complete recording of the telephone conversation played at the news conference, said Karen Lightfoot, communications director for the panel's chairman, California Democrat Henry Waxman.

Laying out a timeline of events, Hardin said on Monday that they did find out before the release of the Mitchell report that McNamee had made incriminating statements about Clemens. They decided not to respond, Hardin said, because it was not clear if the report would name names.


Roger Clemens, left, and his lawyer, Rusty Hardin listen to the tape.

They also had another hope.

"Roger thought that since it was so untrue, perhaps Brian McNamee would change his mind," Hardin said.

The New York Daily News also reported on Monday that days before the scheduled release of the Mitchell report Clemens' investigators asked McNamee whether he would be willing to recant.

McNamee reportedly called Clemens and Pettitte to warn them that he had spoken to the government. During an interview on "60 Minutes" which aired on Sunday night, Clemens denied knowing that he would be named by Mitchell.

Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee Sunday night in Harris County District Court in Texas, listing 15 alleged statements McNamee made to Mitchell. Clemens claimed the statements were "untrue and defamatory."

"We are ready to go to Congress and we are ready to counter-sue," Ward said, adding that they will first try to get Clemens' suit thrown out before they decide for sure if they will sue.

Also Sunday, McNamee told SI.com that Clemens was "in no way an abuser of steroids."

"He took them in late July, August, and never for more than four to six weeks max," he was quoted as saying. "Within the culture of what was going on, he was just a small part of it. A lot of guys did it. You can't take away the work Roger did. You can't take away the fact that he worked out as hard as anybody."

Monday was the first time Clemens answered questions from a group of reporters.

His anger at reporters for the way he has been portrayed was clear when he mentioned the Hall of Fame. There has speculation that the allegations in the Mitchell report would hurt his chances for induction.

"Do you think I played my career because I care about the Hall of Fame? ... If you have a vote ... you keep your vote," he said and walked off shortly afterward.

Clemens angrily denied taking performance-enhancing drugs on Sunday as well. His appearance came after weeks of criticism that he wasn't publicly denying the allegations.

Hardin said on Monday the legal team told the pitcher to wait.

"We knew that once this came out, there would surely be congressional hearings," Hardin said.

Hardin also wanted to make clear that Clemens and his legal team were not questioning the integrity of former senator George Mitchell.

"We are not making any allegations of misconduct by the government or the Mitchell Commission," he said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

#
The man's son is dying, and Clemens uses this as an excuse call McNamee and try and pull something out of him. If you cannot hear how fake Clemens is in this phone conversation, get your ears checked. And yet, McNamee never once says Clemens didn't do it, interesting. What an absolutely disgusting move by Clemens to try and take advantage of a person in a fragile state of mind..
#
outlineboy
outlineboy (3 hours ago)
You can spin that tape any way you want.... if you hate Roger, he sounds guilty.... if you support him, he sounds legit. Really, it doesn't tell us anything, which is strange. Both men sounded evasive in some ways. Very strange.
#
LOW SPARK
LOW SPARK (3 hours ago)
If I was Roger and had the guy who lied about me on the phone I would probably try to strangle him through the phone lines....Roger never really showed any anger levels in his voice during this conversation.....
#
png52988
png52988 (3 hours ago)

This tape was pretty much useless. Neither side takes an advantage from it and both sides sound bewildered as to what the truth is. Maybe this is a tryout for Clemens and McNamee for some independent film to be played years from now.

Also, Roger whether any of this is true or not, it's good to see Roger's warm heart TRUTHFULLY caring *cough, sarcasm* about McNamee's sick kid, hope he gets better soon no matter who is right and wrong.
#
bgoal32
bgoal32 (3 hours ago)
If clemens had answered when he was asked "what do you want me to do?" that could have been witness tampering. Im sure his lawyers told him specifically that he was NOT allowed in any case to request that mcnamee do ANYTHING
#
clloyd987
clloyd987 (3 hours ago)
It sure takes a man of Roger's integrity to try to entrap someone.

Exclusive: McNamee stands by story
Clemens' ex-trainer reacts to 60 Minutes interview
Posted: Monday January 7, 2008 6:57PM; Updated: Monday January 7, 2008 7:05PM
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Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee
Roger Clemens trained with Brian McNamee as recently as February 2006 with the Houston Astros.
AP

Clemens Fights Back

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Brian McNamee sits mostly stone-faced as Roger Clemens, his onetime client and close friend, brings the heat. "Ridiculous," "hogwash" -- terms used by the seven-time Cy Young Award winner to discredit McNamee's bombshell testimony in the Mitchell Report, in which the longtime personal trainer told investigators that he had injected Clemens with HGH and anabolic steroids -- fail to break McNamee's calm.

Sitting on the couch of his one-bedroom bungalow by a Long Island beach, in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated, his first public words since the release of the Mitchell Report on Dec. 13, McNamee occasionally interjects as Mike Wallace interviews Clemens on 60 Minutes. At times he is even complimentary of his client-turned-combatant.

His mood darkens, however, when Wallace asks Clemens, "What did McNamee gain by lying?"

"Evidently not going to jail," the pitcher replies.

"Jail time for what?" Wallace asks.

"Well, I think he's been buying and movin' steroids."

"I'd rather be called a liar than a drug pusher," McNamee says, his voice rising.

He gathers himself, then continues. "The feds look at bank accounts, and there's no money unaccounted for. I don't launder money. I don't have anything in my mattress. If I was pushing drugs, what did I do with the money?"

As suddenly as the storm arrived, it passes. His eyes maneuver between his 23-inch television and a computer monitor that is providing minute-by-minute reviews of Clemens' interview. The trainer reads aloud from e-mails that are supportive of him. He stops to hear Clemens acknowledge that McNamee did, in fact, inject him -- only with the anesthetic lidocaine and B-12 vitamins rather than with HGH and anabolic steroids. "That's news to me," McNamee says. But the edge is gone now. He explains that such shots are administered through the arm and not the butt and implores Wallace to ask the pitcher where he got such prescription drugs. Wallace does not.

When Clemens claims to have no knowledge that Andy Pettitte -- Clemens' close friend and training partner, and another former client of McNamee -- had twice taken HGH, thus corroborating McNamee's testimony in the Mitchell Report, the trainer interjects, "I believe that."

As the 60 Minutes interview draws to a close, Clemens, who will repeat his denials in a news conference the next day, discusses the possibility of taking a lie detector test. "I think he's the one guy who could probably beat the test," McNamee opines. "He might actually believe that he's telling the truth."

McNamee apparently still admires Clemens very much, so much that he insists that the 45-year-old right-hander belongs in the Hall of Fame. And though his lawyers have threatened a defamation lawsuit against Clemens, McNamee says he hopes it doesn't come to a courtroom. "I'd like it all to just fade away,'' he says. (Word would come late on Sunday night that Clemens had filed a defamation suit of his own.)

But to testify truthfully, McNamee explains, was the only way to avoid prosecution. "I shouldn't have done it,'' he says of his steroid involvement. "I made a mistake. And I stopped it.''
Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace's interview with Roger Clemens aired on CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday night.
CBS


What McNamee says he did back then was to educate players in what he recognized to be a steroid epidemic. He says he didn't push players to performance-enhancing drugs, but only helped steer them to safer drugs if they were already so inclined. "I made a mistake [out of] loyalty to others,'' is how he puts it.

Safer performance-enhancing drugs, McNamee explains, is what drew him to Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets' clubhouse attendant who has pleaded guilty to distributing steroids and money laundering. McNamee, then a Yankees strength and conditioning coach, became acquainted with Radomski, whom he learned through a mutual acquaintance might be able to get him a deal on a Lexus. Soon McNamee started buying steroids from Radomski, whom he saw as a trusted source of quality performance-enhancing drugs. McNamee sees himself as someone who only did what his big-name clients requested, faithfully carrying out orders.

Clemens and McNamee had hit it off almost immediately in Toronto in the late 1990s, when Clemens was a four-time Cy Young Award winner thought to be near the end of a Hall of Fame career. Defying the odds, Clemens won three more Cy Youngs, aided in part, according to the Mitchell Report, by performance-enhancing drugs procured by McNamee. The Mitchell Report states that McNamee shot up Clemens between 16 and 21 times with as many as three different steroids and HGH over the 1998, 2000 and 2001 seasons. On numerous occasions, including an SI.com interview in 2006, McNamee had denied any involvement with steroids. "I looked at them like white lies,'' McNamee says. "I was doing clinics and getting mail from high school coaches, and the topic would always come up. Why did they need to hear the truth and take away from my program of smart training, eating well and working hard? There really were no shortcuts.''

McNamee says no one ever outworked Clemens, but McNamee said under oath that Clemens had artificial help. He saw noted West Coast trainer Greg Anderson go to prison rather than testify about his star client, Barry Bonds. But McNamee has three young children and wouldn't think of choosing Clemens over them. (Though in a taped phone call from last Friday played at Clemens' press conference on Monday afternoon, McNamee would offer to go to jail on Clemens' behalf.)

"Faced with the situation I was faced with, I had no choice,'' McNamee says. "I didn't want to do it. I have a 10-year-old and a 7-year-old and I don't want them taking steroids. I'm embarrassed. I wish I had nothing to do with it.''

start quote And Roger was in no way an abuser of steroids. He never took them through our tough winter workouts. And he never took them in spring training, when the days are longest. He took them in late July, August, and never for more than four to six weeks max ... it wasn't that frequent. end quote
-- Brian McNamee

McNamee still holds Clemens in high regard, in part because he admires the pitcher's tireless work ethic, and also because he believes that Clemens was only one of many players using performance enhancers. "It's sad,'' McNamee says. "He was a mentor to me. Roger is an unbelievable family man. I learned how to treat my kids from Roger. And Roger was in no way an abuser of steroids. He never took them through our tough winter workouts. And he never took them in spring training, when the days are longest. He took them in late July, August, and never for more than four to six weeks max ... it wasn't that frequent.'

"Within the culture of what was going on, he was just a small part of it. A lot of guys did it. You can't take away the work Roger did. You can't take away the fact that he worked out as hard as anybody.'' When McNamee, also a former strength and conditioning coach with the Blue Jays from 1998 through 2000, is asked to estimate how many major leaguers were involved with steroids during that period, he answers without hesitation. "More than half,'' he says.

McNamee speaks fondly about his successful pairing with Clemens; apparently, he hasn't quite let go. There are signs that he'd like their old relationship back. Clemens revealed on 60 Minutes that McNamee emailed him for fishing tips days before Mitchell's findings were divulged without hinting what was to come, an assertion that McNamee didn't deny.

McNamee explains that he was prohibited from revealing to anyone what he had told Mitchell. "It was killing me," he says. "I got sick. I could not talk about it. It was a federal investigation.'' McNamee also explains that at the time he was still reasonably hopeful that none of the names Mitchell learned from him or anyone else would be made public. "Why would I tell Roger or Andy something they might not even find out about?'' he says.

McNamee received the first call from the feds way back in May. "I was pretty compelled to tell the truth,'' is the way McNamee put it. "It made me sick,'' he says. 'I was hospitalized for the stress.''

Three months later, in August, he was called before Mitchell, and asked to nod to what he told the feds the month before. When he was done nodding, he says Mitchell hugged him. But he claims he took no pride in it.

"I made a mistake. And obviously, I paid for it tenfold,'' McNamee says.

McNamee says Clemens paid him fairly -- "he paid me a decent wage, nothing more, nothing less; I helped make him millions.'' He talks often about his kids, and a neat but tall stack of diapers on the dining room table suggests that he's heavily involved in their lives. His training business also is far from hurting. There are weights in a small front room of the bungalow, and he appears to have a full training schedule -- though, of course none of the clients are of Clemens' ilk.

While his rented house is rather small, it is located in a desirable community only blocks from the beach. It isn't close to Clemens' palace, but it is homey. Considering all that's gone on, he also appears to have more peace of mind than you'd think despite the stress. "I'll land on my feet,'' he says. "I'll get by.''

stubbycoop


Brian McNamee: "I don't have any money. I have nothing," McNamee said. "I'm not doing a book deal. I got offered seven figures to go on TV. I didn't do it. I didn't take it. I didn't do anything. All I did was what I thought was right -- I never thought it was right, but I thought that I had no other choice, put it that way."

On Sunday, McNamee told SI.com that Clemens was "in no way an abuser of steroids."

"He took them in late July, August, and never for more than four to six weeks max," he was quoted as saying. "Within the culture of what was going on, he was just a small part of it. A lot of guys did it. You can't take away the work Roger did. You can't take away the fact that he worked out as hard as anybody."

Obviously, Brian McNamee worships Clemens and is doing what he has to do. Clemens will ruin a guy with a dying child. What a SCUM, CHEAT, and LIAR.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3185777


TAMPA, Fla. -- Hank Steinbrenner isn't sure whether Roger Clemens used steroids and human growth hormone. The New York Yankees senior vice president thinks others are rushing to judgment, though.

Clemens held a news conference Monday in Houston, again denying allegations in last month's Mitchell Report that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

"I thought that the press conference spoke for itself," Steinbrenner said Monday night outside Legends Field at the Yankees' spring training complex. "I thought the media commentary after the press conference was over was a little harsh. Too much rush to judgment in this country. As far as whether he's telling the truth or not, I have no clue. But I'm not going to say, well, he's lying, like everybody on TV did after he was done."

Clemens filed a defamation suit late Sunday night against his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who told George Mitchell's investigators that he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with steroids and HGH in 1998, 2000 and 2001 -- before baseball players and owners agreed to ban those substances.

"Everybody, the media, all said, 'Oh, he's got to sue,'" Steinbrenner said. "[Barry] Bonds never sued. Everybody said, 'Why not?' Well, this guy is suing and now they still don't believe him. You've got to start to wonder at some point. I don't rush to judgment. That's the big thing with me. I don't do that, and that's the exact term for it, rush to judgment."

Steinbrenner also agreed with comments made earlier this month by Joe Torre, who managed the Yankees from 1996-2007.

A total of 20 current and former Yankees were identified in Mitchell's report. Torre said the high total likely was due to two of Mitchell's primary sources being from the New York area: McNamee and former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, which "made it look like a lopsided report," Torre said.

Torre also suspects drug use might have been more widespread.

"The biggest thing is, I agree with what Torre said about the Mitchell Report, which I thought was great he said it. Of course, that was his team, too," Steinbrenner said. "That is, it was extremely lopsided towards the Yankees. You can't tell me all those teams weren't doing it. Of course they were."

Torre won the World Series four times in his first five years with New York before leaving at the end of last season and becoming manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press