Criminal Investigation on Roger Clemens

By COED Staff

Roger Clemens could be the US Federal Penitentiary System’s Penal Baseball League MVP in 2009:

The NY Times is reporting a Congressional committee has taken the first steps toward asking the Department of Justice to launch a criminal investigation into whether Roger Clemens committed perjury during testimony about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to three lawyers familiar with the matter.

A draft letter referring Clemens, but not his accuser, Brian McNamee, had been drawn up by staff members for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by the end of last week, according to two of the lawyers.

“It simply puts informal public pressure on the Department of Justice to take a look at it and respond in some way to Congress’s action,” he said.

In addition, a referral also sends a message about “Congress’s own view as to which testimony seems not plausible to them,” Peterson said. If the committee chooses to refer Clemens’s testimony and not McNamee’s, “that’s a pretty clear statement as to what their views are.” <via NY Times>

The key to this case will be whether or not photos exist of Clemens at a 1998 party hosted by Jose Canseco.