“Weighing the Committee Record: A Balanced Review of the Evidence Regarding Performance Enhancing Drugs in Baseball”
Is that like FOX News is “clear and balanced?”
The official press release:
Minority Report: No Easy Answers in Clemens Steroid Use Case
Details Don’t All Add Up For Pitcher or Trainer, Investigators Find
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 25, 2008 — Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., Ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today released a staff report analyzing the body of evidence that prompted the Committee to refer the question whether Roger Clemens lied to Congress when he denied ever using steroids or human growth hormone.
New information has emerged, since the Committee’s high-profile hearing, about differences in testimony given by Clemens and McNamee on secondary issues such as whether Clemens attended a barbeque at Jose Conseco’s house or whether Clemens received vitamin B-12 injections. Further investigation also has revealed differences in the stories of Pettitte and McNamee about how Pettitte came to use human growth hormone to help him heal from an elbow injury.
According to the report, some of the information gathered by the Committee bolsters the case for referring the Clemens matter to the Department of Justice for further investigation. For example, McNamee’s angry reaction when Clemens’ teammate, Andy Pettitte, revealed Clemens had told him about using human growth hormone seemed critical. But other details could undermine the credibility of Brian McNamee, one of Clemens’ key accusers.
The report also lends credence to Clemens’ version of how he came to sustain a buttocks injury while with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998. According to the report, team records show Clemens received a B-12 injection in July 1998, as Clemens stated. The team doctor confirmed giving the injection. And the injury – according to a physician’s exam and a subsequent MRI – turned out to be a bruise, not an abscess caused by a hurried steroid injection, as McNamee claimed. In fact, three of the four teams for which Clemens played acknowledged B-12 injections were administered during his time with those teams.
“Did Roger Clemens lie to us?”
Davis said. “Some of the evidence seems to say he did; other information suggests he told the truth. It’s a far more complicated picture than some may want to believe. Memories fade and recollections differ. That’s human nature, not criminal conduct. My concern is the integrity of sworn statements made to Congress. At this point, the Justice Department is best equipped to investigate that central question and reach a fair conclusion.”
The Committee minority is also planning to provide copies of additional investigative documents to the Justice Department relating to the probe into Clemens’ truthfulness. The documents, requested by DOJ to further its investigation, include staff notes of conversations with various individuals with knowledge of events about which the Committee received conflicting testimony.
You can read the entire report as a PDF file here
is available on Amazon.com,
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