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Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider

Posted: 10:32 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010

The Clemens Indictment 

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By Jamie Dupree

Congress has taken a lot of flak for holding hearings about the use of steroids and more by Major League Baseball players.  Now that probe has brought perjury charges against none other than Roger Clemens.

Congress has taken a lot of flak for holding hearings about the use of steroids and more by Major League Baseball players.  Now that probe has brought perjury charges against none other than Roger Clemens.

In a six count indictment from a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., the Cy Young winner was charged with Perjury, Making False Statements and Obstruction of Congress.

Much of it stemmed from one statement that Clemens made, which was classic Clemens.  High and tight.

"Let me be clear," he told lawmakers in February of 2008, "I have never taken steroids or HGH."

"In truth and in fact, as CLEMENS well knew when he gave this testimony, CLEMENS knowingly received injections of anabolic steroids while he was an MLB player," said the final paragraph of the 19 page federal indictment.

The Clemens indictment is certainly not the first piece of news to come from the baseball hearings held by Congress.

Earlier this year, slugger Mark McGwire acknowledged what we all figured, that he had not fessed up to his use of performance enhancing drugs when called before Congress in 2005.

Another player, Rafael Palmeiro, was suspended for using steroids.

He told the same committee listening to McGwire that "I have never used steroids.  Period."

That didn't exactly turn out to be true.

The difference was that Congress decided not to pursue perjury charges, mainly because of a lack of evidence.

That changed with Clemens, who seemed to really get under the skin of lawmakers in both parties, as they repeatedly reminded the pitching great that he was under oath.

And under possibly penalty of perjury for not telling the truth.

Obviously, Clemens gets his day in a court of law.

We'll see if the charges stick like a called strike three.

Clemens will try not to stand there like the house on the side of the road.

 
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