Clemens To Sue McNamee

Clemens filed a law suit against McNamee for defamation. This is somewhat surprising given how hard these cases are to prove. But at this point, what does Clemens have to lose? He's claimed his innocence countless times through countless different forums, but the vast majority of people still think he cheated.

McNamee is now likely to file a suit against Clemens. I thought McNamee would file one even if Clemens didn't. It's possible, however, that McNamee will let Clemens be the one who has to try to prove one of these difficult defamation cases. McNamee may not want to pay more lawyer fees when he has such an advantage in the Clemens defamation case.

Sports Illustrated had an exclusive interview with Brian McNamee. It's actually pretty interesting if you have time to read it. McNamee defends hismelf against Clemens' accusation that he was "movin' steroids" saying "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?"

McNamee also says he respects Clemens and thinks he should be in the Hall of Fame. He even downplays Clemens' alleged steroid use. According to McNamee, "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."

It's tough for me to believe either one of these guys. Neither one seems very trustworthy. But I'm inclined to believe what the Mitchell Investigation has uncovered. Why would investigators be out to get Clemens for no reason, as he claims? What motive would there possibly be?

Clemens Meltdown

Perhaps Clemens is finally starting to realize that he may not make it into the Hall of Fame. He's shown some erratic behavior lately. On Friday, he taped a phone conversation with McNamee, without McNamee knowing the conversation was being recorded. McNamee was emotional; he was one of Rogers' close friends for a long time. But to McNamee's credit, he didn't know he was being recorded and he still didn't say anything that would call his testimony into question.

Then today, Clemens broke down in his scheduled press conference in Houston. According to Peter Abraham at 5:56,

"The press conference is over. Clemens started cursing, said he didn’t care about the Hall of Fame and walked off the stage. Pretty ugly scene."

Breaking News: Congress Would Like A Word With Clemens

According to ESPN, Congress is requesting a hearing with Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Brian McNamee. The hearing is to be held January 16th. And David Marin, a member of the committee has made it clear what Congress is looking for.

ESPN asked committee member David Marin if the hearings were meant to gets answers from Clemens and Pettitte while they're under oath. Marin responded, "that's a question goes without saying. Under oath is under oath."

If Congress then suspects Pettitte or Clemens of lying under oath, they would likely be investigated for perjury, just like Barry Bonds. Perjury is a felony of the third degree, punishable by jail time. For those who were upset over the speculative nature of the Mitchell Report, you may get some irrefutable answers soon.

Clemens Likely to Face Law Suit

An interview of Roger Clemens is scheduled to air on 60 Minutes this Wednesday. In the interview, Clemens is expected to claim innocence (again) but this time he could just be incriminating himself further. Brian McNamee's lawyer is set to sue Clemens, should he claim that his client's testimony was untruthful.

Personally, I don't feel bad for Clemens one bit. Clemens' drug use as described in the Mitchell Report is on par with that of Barry Bonds. Clemens' obnoxious attitude is in that category as well. Of course, Clemens could be innocent. And the entire Micthell Report could be a Red Sox conspiracy. People will believe what they want to believe, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.

So I hope Clemens doesn't dance around the issue on Sunday. That way McNamee can provide even more details on Roger's illegal drug use. It will be hard for Yankees fans to claim that Clemens is innocent, and that the Mitchell Report is a Red Sox conspiracy, should a court of law find McNamee's testimony to be truthful.