Waxman Rebukes Clemens' Lawyer

Texas criminal defense attorney Rusty Hardin has been working to rehabilitate the reputation of his client, Roger Clemens. Clemens' name, you'll recall, turned up in former Sen. George Mitchell's recently released report on the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing substances in Major League Baseball. Under threat of indictment, Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee, testified to Mitchell that he had personally and repeatedly injected the aging pitcher with human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens told 60 Minutes that he felt "betrayed" by McNamee ("I'm so upset about it, how I treated this man and took care of him"). When a distraught McNamee called Clemens to explain his actions, Hardin taped the call, released the 17-minute anguished conversation to the press, and filed a defamation case against McNamee.

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On Feb. 13, both McNamee and Clemens are scheduled to appear under oath before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been holding hearings on the use of performance-enhancers in professional sports. The investigation stems largely from raids that Internal Revenue Service agent (and former college basketball star) Jeff Novitzky conducted in 2002 against the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative. Novitzky brokered McNamee's cooperation with Mitchell. On Feb. 10, the New York Times reported that Novitzky is expected to attend this week's House hearings and asked Hardin for comment. "I can tell you this: If he ever messes with Roger, Roger will eat his lunch," Hardin said. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman interpreted this as "an attempt to intimidate a federal law enforcement official in the performance of his official duties" and shot off a stern letter (below and the following page) demanding that Hardin "clarify the record." No word yet of a reply.

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