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Clemens, McNamee have 'emotional' phone talk

BY DAVID LENNON | david.lennon@newsday.com

9:31 PM EST, January 5, 2008

In a surprising twist to their public war of words, Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, spoke by telephone Friday night, Newsday has learned. It was their first contact since the Mitchell Report was released Dec. 13, and a person close to the situation described the hourlong conversation between the longtime friends as "emotional."

It is unclear whether Clemens or McNamee initiated the call, and attempts to reach representatives for both of them Saturday night were unsuccessful. Clemens and McNamee have been friends since 1998, when the two were together on the Blue Jays, and it was Clemens who got McNamee hired by the Yankees after he was obtained from Toronto at the start of the 1999 season.

But in the wake of the Mitchell Report and McNamee's damaging testimony, those years together ultimately may tear down Clemens and his Hall of Fame resume. Clemens has vehemently denied McNamee's allegations that the trainer injected him with steroids -- he'll do so again tonight on "60 Minutes" -- and the two sides threatened to sue each other last week in what is likely to be an ongoing legal battle.

Clemens and McNamee were asked Friday to appear before a congressional committee hearing on steroids scheduled for Jan. 16, along with Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and former clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski.

In the case of Clemens, McNamee has been the star witness against him, and this latest development may be only the beginning for Clemens.

Clemens, as indicated by excerpts released last week, attempts to clear his name in Sunday night's chat with Mike Wallace at his home in Katy, Texas. But the grilling should intensify if Clemens keeps his date with Congress on Jan. 16, and it now seems he has attracted the unwanted attention of Jeff Novitzky, an IRS special agent responsible for the indictment of Barry Bonds in November on felony charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

A person familiar with the situation said Saturday that Novitzky, like many others intrigued by the Mitchell Report, has turned his focus toward Clemens in the wake of the verbal sparring between Clemens and McNamee.

McNamee told investigators that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at various times from 1998 to 2001. Clemens first denied the allegations on a video clip he posted on a Web site and addresses those assertions more specifically on tonight's "60 Minutes" segment.

Clemens admits to receiving injections from McNamee, but insists the shots contained only lidocaine and vitamin B-12. He continues to say that McNamee's accusations are "ridiculous" and that he has "never" used banned performance-enhancing drugs. When Wallace asks him to swear on his statements, Clemens replies, "Swear."

When Clemens switches from his couch to Capitol Hill, however, he will be under oath, and that involves serious consequences.

Despite Friday's "invitation" to appear in front of the House Committe on Oversight and Government Reform on Jan. 16, there's no guarantee Clemens will make that date. Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, indicated Friday that Clemens has to check his schedule. One person familiar with the legal implications suggested yesterday that Clemens might file a lawsuit against McNamee before then, with the hope it would excuse him from the hearings.

Bonds avoided the congressional hearings in March 2005 because of the ongoing BALCO investigation, as did Jason Giambi, who also was involved. If Clemens is forced to appear -- a subpoena is possible -- he could invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

Of course, by doing so, he would indirectly validate McNamee's testimony, at least in the court of public opinion. McNamee already has a character witness in Clemens' good friend Pettitte, who backed up McNamee's assertions by admitting that he was injected with HGH while on the disabled list in 2002.