If Clemens does not appear, Knobby will be the star witness!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3194113
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Clemens' lawyer hedging Congress' deposition request
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By T.J. Quinn
ESPN.com
After saying repeatedly that Roger Clemens will answer any questions
Congress wants to ask him, a source familiar with the inquiry said
Saturday night that attorney Rusty Hardin is hedging over the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee's request to depose Clemens
under oath next week because it might interfere with his defamation
lawsuit against personal trainer Brian McNamee.
The source said Hardin is also making "noises" about not turning over
a taped conversation between McNamee and two investigators for
Hardin's office recorded Dec. 12, the day before the Mitchell report
was released.
A segment of the tape was detailed in Clemens' complaint, describing
McNamee as saying he was pressured into naming Clemens as a steroid
user to federal investigators. Unlike the Jan. 5 phone conversation
between Clemens and McNamee which was made public, however, Hardin has
refused to release that tape and said it would come out in the
discovery process of Clemens' lawsuit.
McNamee's lawyers said the investigators tried to get McNamee to
recant his story, a charge Hardin denies.
The source said that nothing has been decided and it's premature to
say whether the committee will be forced to subpoena Clemens to
testify before the committee. The source said all the issues will be
raised Monday when Hardin meets with committee staffers in Washington,
D.C., to discuss Clemens' cooperation.
Clemens, former Astros teammate Andy Pettitte and Houston-area
resident Chuck Knoblauch have been asked to testify Feb. 13 before the
congressional committee. The much-anticipated hearing was postponed
from Jan. 16 so lawmakers can gather evidence and coordinate their
investigation with the Justice Department.
Asked Saturday night whether Clemens will agree to a deposition or
whether he will seek to limit the scope of committee investigators'
questions, Hardin said in an e-mail response, "Great questions, and
all appropriate things to discuss with the committee staff if they
desire. We will be there to listen and address their concerns. The
agenda is totally up to them."
Hardin's hesitation is the first hiccup in his no-holds-barred defense
of Clemens. Hardin and Clemens have said categorically that Clemens
never used steroids and that McNamee is lying. They filed a defamation
lawsuit against Clemens' longtime trainer Jan. 6, but Hardin said at
the time the lawsuit would not prevent Clemens from testifying before
Congress in an open hearing.
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