Roger Clemens’ denials of drug use reportedly subject of grand jury

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.”

Two weeks after Clemens’ testimony, Waxman released a memo outlining seven assertions made by the pitcher that were contrary to other evidence. Congress asked the Justice Department to explore if Clemens had lied under oath.

“Convening a grand jury is the next logical step to what I’ve perceived as clear misstatements,” said Katherine Darmer, a Chapman University law professor and former federal prosecutor. “I would not be surprised at all to see an indictment come out of this.”

Clemens had come across as eager to testify, dispute McNamee’s claims and save a tarnished image. Darmer said that strategy clearly backfired.

“It’s one thing to be called, another to get up there and so clearly lie,” she said. “He should be held accountable for wasting the time of several members of Congress, who had better things to do.”

The fallout might keep Clemens from the Hall of Fame. On Monday, retired slugger Mark McGwire, stained by steroid allegations, received 21% of Hall of Fame votes, when 75% are required for entry.

Others who could be summoned for testimony are drug supplier and former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, investigators who worked for former Sen. George Mitchell’s 2007 report and Clemens’ former teammate Andy Pettitte, who claimed in a sworn deposition that Clemens had admitted to HGH use.

Contacted by The Times, Radomski had no comment, though the New York Times reported Monday that he had been subpoenaed. Radomski has reportedly given investigators an overnight-shipping receipt for a package of HGH he sent to Clemens’ Houston home, and McNamee turned over needles and bloody gauze pads he claims were used in Clemens’ injections.

The investigation could pose an interesting ethics puzzle for President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming team at the Justice Department. Lanny Breuer, a lawyer hired by Clemens last year, is expected to be announced as Obama’s choice to lead the department’s criminal division.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com