Tweet
Roger Clemens will face a lawsuit if he says in a “60 Minutes” interview that his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, was not truthful when he said he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs, a lawyer hired by McNamee said Wednesday.
The “60 Minutes” interview was taped Friday at Clemens’s home in Katy, Tex., and is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday at about 7:30 p.m. Eastern, after the conclusion of an N.F.L. playoff game. The lawyer, Richard D. Emery, said in a telephone interview that Clemens should try to keep the segment off the air or face a lawsuit for damaging McNamee’s livelihood.
“He’s got a chance to protect himself,” said Emery, who is based in New York and specializes in libel and defamation actions. “We’re not going to sue him if he doesn’t do it. But if he does it, we’re going to sue him.”
When told of Emery’s comments, Clemens’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said, “I believe a client who’s telling the truth should tell the world the truth.”
Hardin said Clemens stood his ground in the interview. “I think he expressed himself very emotionally, and it’ll give the viewer a chance to look at Roger and make up their mind,” Hardin said.
Asked whether there would be new disclosures, Hardin said, “I don’t think so.” He added, “I guess what’s new about it is hearing it in Roger’s own words.”
McNamee made disclosures about Clemens to federal investigators and to George J. Mitchell, the former United States senator who conducted a 20-month investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.
McNamee, a former assistant strength coach for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees and a former trainer for Clemens and Andy Pettitte, said he injected Clemens with steroids at least four times each in the 1998, 2000 and 2001 seasons, and four to six times with human growth hormone in the 2000 season. Earl Ward, McNamee’s lead lawyer, has said that McNamee had no documentation, like canceled checks or e-mail messages, implicating Clemens.
Clemens has denied McNamee’s charges on a video posted on the Web site of his foundation and on YouTube, saying: “Let me be clear, the answer is no. I did not use steroids or human growth hormone, and I’ve never done so. I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject in to my body. Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or human growth hormones into my body.”
Emery said if Clemens says on “60 Minutes,” before an audience that will probably exceed 10 million people, that McNamee was not truthful, it would lead to a lawsuit, which would allow him to put Clemens under oath.
McNamee spoke with Mitchell under a deal with prosecutors that he would not be charged with drug dealing or lying to an agent if he told the truth.
Source: nytimes.com
The “60 Minutes” interview was taped Friday at Clemens’s home in Katy, Tex., and is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday at about 7:30 p.m. Eastern, after the conclusion of an N.F.L. playoff game. The lawyer, Richard D. Emery, said in a telephone interview that Clemens should try to keep the segment off the air or face a lawsuit for damaging McNamee’s livelihood.
“He’s got a chance to protect himself,” said Emery, who is based in New York and specializes in libel and defamation actions. “We’re not going to sue him if he doesn’t do it. But if he does it, we’re going to sue him.”
When told of Emery’s comments, Clemens’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said, “I believe a client who’s telling the truth should tell the world the truth.”
Hardin said Clemens stood his ground in the interview. “I think he expressed himself very emotionally, and it’ll give the viewer a chance to look at Roger and make up their mind,” Hardin said.
Asked whether there would be new disclosures, Hardin said, “I don’t think so.” He added, “I guess what’s new about it is hearing it in Roger’s own words.”
McNamee made disclosures about Clemens to federal investigators and to George J. Mitchell, the former United States senator who conducted a 20-month investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.
McNamee, a former assistant strength coach for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees and a former trainer for Clemens and Andy Pettitte, said he injected Clemens with steroids at least four times each in the 1998, 2000 and 2001 seasons, and four to six times with human growth hormone in the 2000 season. Earl Ward, McNamee’s lead lawyer, has said that McNamee had no documentation, like canceled checks or e-mail messages, implicating Clemens.
Clemens has denied McNamee’s charges on a video posted on the Web site of his foundation and on YouTube, saying: “Let me be clear, the answer is no. I did not use steroids or human growth hormone, and I’ve never done so. I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject in to my body. Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or human growth hormones into my body.”
Emery said if Clemens says on “60 Minutes,” before an audience that will probably exceed 10 million people, that McNamee was not truthful, it would lead to a lawsuit, which would allow him to put Clemens under oath.
McNamee spoke with Mitchell under a deal with prosecutors that he would not be charged with drug dealing or lying to an agent if he told the truth.
Source: nytimes.com