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February 27, 2008
Posted: 06:21 PM ET

NEW YORK – It is not the least bit surprising that Roger Clemens may now be investigated by the Justice Department.

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His sworn deposition testimony and his statement under oath to the House Oversight Committee always seemed to me to be a setup, a slow pitch, for this obvious end result: legal action against him. If they can’t get him for the steroids, they can try to get him for perjury.

Martha Stewart.

Scooter Libby.

Why on earth would Clemens, represented by competent counsel who surely advised against it, fall into this trap? Why do prominent people testify under oath when they don’t have to, knowing this will give hostile authorities new ammunition?

Must be a combination of ego and denial that scientists have not yet cracked.

Lisa Bloom, In Session anchor

Filed under: Lisa Bloom • Roger Clemens


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Kathie   February 28th, 2008 8:34 am ET

Roger Clemens own ego got him into this mess. He thought he
could say anything and he would be believed because he is
Roger Clemens. Why is everyone saying the lawyer he had was
incompetent. Do you really think he could stop a man with an
ego and inflated self importance as Clemen’s could be stopped
from talking and blaming everyone else but himself for the
circumstances he finds himself in? Roger Clemens thinks
he walks on water and that his word shouldn’t even be questioned
at all.

Brian   February 28th, 2008 8:48 am ET

Why in the world would congress be spending all this time trying to catch a baseball player in a lie instead of spending time on actual issues, like maybe, I don’t know, the war, or the economy, or maybe even the mortgage crisis. Why in the world would the American people re-elect such fools.
I live in Michigan and Michigan is already in the crapper. The unemployment rate is at unheard of levels in Michigan, maybe that is a conversation that should have already taken place, or maybe I’m just trying to show the people of Michigan and of the United States that re-electing someone because of name-recognition is maybe not the best way to go.

Angie   February 28th, 2008 12:34 pm ET

My question is; with all that is going on in the US , the war in Iraq, the mortgage mess, children and adults going without insurance,etc… why is our government wasting their time and our tax dollars investigating this? Steroids are illegal, this should have been takaen up in the courts not the United States Congress.

Tim Fletcher   February 28th, 2008 3:47 pm ET

After listening to all the reports of congress looking into steroid use in Baseball and other pro sports, I still have one question. What arrogant person in Congress decided that that body had any authority to undertake this probe and why did the rest of his or her fellow Congressmen agree to go along with this incredible waste of tax-payer time and money? And I suppose an even more important follow-up question would be, why has no news organization not called them out on the carpet about it? It seems to me that there is a lot more important business that those Congressmen should be focusing on….like the parts of our lives that we the people have allowed them to play a role in controlling. My personal belief is that if the owners of the teams had a problem with their players doing whatever it takes to be competitive in their field, they would fire immediately any player who tested positive for illegal drugs or steroids….that would quickly send the message that such behavior would not be tolerated. Thank you for your time.

Roger Lemieux   February 28th, 2008 4:07 pm ET

What I don’t understand with our society is why would we spend so much money to criminalize a guy (a sport ICON), when our main focus should be on improving our economy, children education, health care system, ending the war in Iraq, etc.
Even if he did take a growth hormone, so what! I would bet that there are many athletes that take it & never got caught. If taking growth hormones makes them happy, improves the game or even kills them (i.e Lyle Alzado) oh well too bad, so sad. Let them all take it & suffer the consequences. No More Problem & we as tax payers then can be confident that our tax money is being used towards improving our lives.

Kate   February 28th, 2008 5:19 pm ET

Tim the reason they will never do what you suggest is one reason and one reason only . M O N E Y .
They lost millions of dollars during the last baseball strike. Hundreds
and hundreds of people were out of work. Why do you think they turned
a blind eye to Mark McQuire and his use of HGH? It was the home run
battle he was having with Sammy Sosa that was bringing disgruntled fans back to baseball.
However, MONEY isn’t the root of all evil.. it’s people’s GREED that
is.

Robert Brown   February 28th, 2008 5:38 pm ET

Does anyone who writes know anything about steroids? They are a class of medications that work miracles. They are used for everything from skin diseases to heart attacks. They produce results that seem not to be gotten from any other substance. The fact that large doses will help a lifter bulk-up or stamina and strength to go up may be called a misuse by why is it papered with “illegal,illegal”? Steroids usually used in very moderate to small doses is a true miracle in many cases.
Instead of spending the time and millions of dollars to try to get them out of the sporting world let them be administered under the control of sports doctors. If they are misused then it would have some law to back it up.
The public has been force fed the bullshit that steroids are BAD and illegal. This is not the case.
It seems like competent physicians are afraid to speak of any of this because they will be jumped on by every idiot reporter that knows nothing about this subject.
Robert Brown

Keith   February 29th, 2008 3:50 am ET

Roger Clemens, a baseball superstar, may or may not have taken perfomance enhancing drugs. It certainly does not warrant all of this congressional involvement. If Congress wants to flex their muscles, they should start an inquiry into the allegations that our incumbent accepted ridiculously large amounts of money from foriegn royalty.

Mike   February 29th, 2008 6:52 am ET

Now we’re left with the searing news that Clemens may have been at a party in 1998. His wife (gasp) may have discussed her breast enhancements! Except for the vigilante media I doubt very many people care about this. Afghanistan, Iraq, domestic issues, other international issues seem to be areas that should be taken care of before we worry about whether Clemens (who actually stood up in defiance of all this crap) took steroids. Now, we’ve got another Senator worrying about whether a football team cheated by reviewing illegal game tapes. What the hell is wrong with these people? They are elected to solve problems of a magnitude that far surpass a steroid issue.

siobhan   February 29th, 2008 9:15 am ET

To all you people wondering why congress would waste time investigating a ballplayer’s alleged lies: the fact that he is a ballplayer is besides the point. The point is that he is a person who raised his hand and swore to tell the truth. Ballplayer, doctor, accountant, stay at home mom, it doens’t matter who you are.
Congress can’t draw a line and say, “OK, if you are a professional ballplayer (or stay at home mom, or accountant, or whatever), it’s OK for you to give inconsistent testimony, but if you are a (doctor, lawyer, stay at home dad, or whatever,) your testimony must be on the up and up . . . .

kim   February 29th, 2008 10:06 am ET

I don’t think the owners would ever fire a player that is doing well. They may punish someone for doing something wrong….but it would be next season…after the world series or some other important game.

Who will go after congress for lining up and getting autographs….
since it’s illegal to for congress to accept gifts worth more than around $50…..those autographs could be worth a pretty penny…just ask O.J.

Kate   March 1st, 2008 7:25 am ET

Robert… Young men in their 20s are dying from abusing steroids.
Recently, a wrestler murdered his family and then committed
suicide because of the rage and tricks steriods can play on your
mind. Years later other athletes are dying because of years of
steroid use , to make them bigger and faster and stronger.
Granted when prescribed for certain illnesses and by a doctor
and not abused (ex. for asthma) steroids can help with their
disease.
Nobody, said steroids are illegal, what is illegal is to use them
to help improve your performance when they are BANNED
by athletic organizations. What IS illegal is to take and oath
and swear to tell the truth then LIE.

Spider   March 2nd, 2008 1:58 pm ET

Maybe I’m missing something here. Don’t we have to prove he lied in order to convict him of perjury? At this point, seems to me, it’s Clemen’s word against the “trainer” who kept syringes that were allegedly used to inject steroids into Mr. Clemens in 2000. Where did he keep these syringes? In his locker wrapped up in a jock strap? This is just a “he said, he said” situation. There is no proof anyone lied. How can he be convicted of perjury?

Robert Brown   March 3rd, 2008 1:01 pm ET

Kate your comments are totally correct and one of the worst side effects are the possibilities and in very large doses the certainty of very bad mood swings. I don’t deny or overlook this. I have used these things for more than 40 years and thank God that I finally found after hundreds of tests and treatment for crippling problems I have been normal for all this time. The particular one I use is “Pridnisone” this is identified as a serious mood alterer” The dosages that I take are less 1% of the supposed daily maximum. I only want people to listen to the doctor they trust and not prejudje any rrug from the idiotic news reports. From you answer I think you feel the same and are obviously aware of these compounds and their LEGAL benefits. I applaud you.
Bob

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