THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Not one of Roger Clemens' flat-out denials about using steroids or human growth hormone was delivered while he spoke under oath.
Now he gets that chance.
The seven-time Cy Young Award winner is scheduled to give a deposition to lawyers from a congressional committee behind closed doors Tuesday, one day after his former New York Yankees teammate and workout partner Andy Pettitte delivered sworn testimony for about 21/2 hours.
Both pitchers' private interviews with staff members from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are part of preparation for a Feb. 13 hearing. That public session is expected to focus on allegations made in the Mitchell Report by trainer Brian McNamee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with performance enhancers.
The 45-year-old Clemens ranks eighth in major league history with 354 career wins. He put off retirement yet again in 2007, returning to the Yankees in June and going 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA.
"Roger is not going to take the Fifth Amendment," one of Clemens' lawyers, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement e-mailed by spokesman Joe Householder. "He is going to answer the committee's questions truthfully under oath."
McNamee is to appear Thursday. One of his lawyers, Earl Ward, said no decision had been made on whether he would submit to a deposition or transcribed interview. It is a crime to lie to Congress, whether sworn to tell the truth or not, so the distinction between the two has more to do with the format of the questioning and the confidentiality of the transcript.
Pettitte, who chose to be deposed, did not take questions from reporters afterward as he walked from committee offices to an elevator in the Rayburn House Office Building. Wearing a pinstriped gray suit and bright-striped tie, Pettitte was accompanied by his wife and three lawyers.
"At the committee's request, Andy Pettitte voluntarily met with representatives of the committee this morning and fully answered all of the inquiries made of him in a sworn deposition," two of Pettitte's lawyers, Jay Reisinger and Thomas Farrell, said in a statement. "Out of respect for the sensitive nature of these proceedings and out of deference to the committee's request for confidentiality, we, on behalf of Mr. Pettitte, will not comment on the nature or specifics of his testimony."
