Roger Clemens said in a taped phone conversation with Brian McNamee released today that he needs “somebody to come tell the truth” about his alleged steroid use revealed in the Mitchell Report.
McNamee assured Clemens he would “do anything I can do to help,” include “go to jail,” yet no agreement between the two men was confirmed during the 17-minute conversation.
Clemens, speaking in Houston at a press conference he arranged, again repeatedly denied he ever used performance enhancing drugs, as McNamee alleged in his conversations with Senator George Mitchell during his investigation. Clemensâ lawyers said that because McNamee didnât deny Clemensâ claims that he never used steroids, it amounted to proof that Clemens was telling the truth.
âIâll go to jail, Iâll do whatever you want,â McNamee said during the conversation.
âI need somebody to tell the truth,â Clemens said.
McNamee initiated the phone call with a text message, and the conversation occured some time before the pitcher’s “60 Minutes” interview with Mike Wallace that aired Sunday night.
On the tape, McNamee apologized to Clemens for the fallout from the Mitchell Report, saying, “I’m sorry that your family has to go through this. I’ll do anything I can do to help.”
McNamee reportedly was threatened with prosecution if he did not tell the truth to Mitchell, whose 20-month investigation into baseball’s drug culture was revealed Dec. 13.
Among the highlights of what McNamee said to Clemens:
— “Iâm with you. Iâm in your corner. Iâd also like not to go to jail, too.â
— “All I did was what I thought was right.”
— “Just let me know what you want me to do.”
— He offered to come to Clemensâ press conference today.
— “Everything I have to this day I have because of you.”
— “I learned from you how to raise my kids.”
He also asked 21 times, “What do you want me to do?” He never said Clemens never did steroids.
Clemens said he would get back to McNamee about what heâd like him to do.
“I just know that I didnât do it and we just need to move on from there,” Clemens said.
Clemens also referred several times to the strain this has put on his family, including his wife, Deb.
“Everybody’s got ulcers over here,” Clemens said on the tape. “It’s just ridiculous.”
Clemens attorney, Rusty Hardin, said Clemens would voluntarily testify before Congress on Jan. 16, and would not take a lie-detector test as he hinted at on “60 Minutes.”
Clemens also took questions from reporters in attendance and maintained the only injuections he ever received from McNamee were of Lidocaine and B-12.
Clemens angrily said, “I defy anyone to say” he used steroids to enchance or extend a 22-year career that resulted in 354 wins and two world championships with the Yankees.
With The Associated Press
