Two men under oath faced off with conflicting stories Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
"Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH," Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens testified before a House committee about allegations that he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Sitting just a few tense feet away — at the same table — was his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who named Clemens as a drug user in former Sen. George Mitchell's report on doping in baseball. McNamee says he injected those drugs "into the body of Roger Clemens at his direction."
Since the report came out in December, Clemens has insisted repeatedly that the allegations about him are untrue. Wednesday's hearing was intended to explore the doubts Clemens has raised.
In addition to McNamee's evidence, the most serious challenge to Clemens' story has come from his workout buddy, former Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte.
Pettitte was scheduled to testify as well, but he was excused after he gave the committee an affidavit describing his own use of human growth hormone, or HGH. Pettitte has said that Clemens told him he was also using HGH. When Clemens was asked Wednesday to explain Pettitte's comments, he said "Andy has misheard."
In a strange twist, Clemens' wife Debbie appears to be a part of the story.
Congressman John Tierney pointed out that in his affidavit, Clemens denied ever speaking with McNamee about HGH. Tierney then asked Clemens why — in another section of the affidavit — he acknowledged talking to the trainer about his wife's use of the drug.
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