Congress to request Clemens investigation: report

A draft letter asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens made false statements to Congress has been written by House staffers, The New York Times reported on its website Monday, citing three unidentified lawyers familiar with the matter.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held the Feb. 13 hearing, at which personal trainer Brian McNamee repeated his allegations that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone and Clemens repeated his denials.
Both men spoke under oath during depositions and at the hearing.

Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for committee chairman Henry Waxman, would not comment when asked about the existence of the draft letter.

Waxman's chief of staff did not respond to telephone or e-mail messages.

Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis have been working in concert during the committee's look at steroids in baseball, dating to the 2005 hearing with Mark McGwire.

But as of Monday evening, the committee's two sides hadn't been in contact about a letter or a referral.

"We've not been told about a draft letter," committee Republican general counsel Keith Ausbrook said. "We haven't been told to expect one, and we haven't been told about a process where anyone was supposed to draft a letter."