Feds: Clemens To Be Indicted For Perjury

New York Times:

Federal authorities have decided to indict Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to two people briefed on the matter.

An announcement is expected shortly.

The indictment comes nearly two and half years after Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee testified under oath at a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform [February 2008], directly contradicting each other about whether Clemens had used the banned substances.

Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports:

Following Clemens' testimony, Congress asked the Department of Justice to investigate Clemens' statements, saying in a letter to the Attorney General "that significant questions have been raised about Mr. Clemens's truthfulness." Among those questions were, according to the Committee, "seven sets of assertions made by Mr. Clemens in his testimony that appear to be contradicted by other evidence before the committee or implausible." Specifically:

* Clemens' testimony that he had never taken performance-enhancing drugs;

* His statement that McNamee injected him with the painkiller lidocaine;

* His statement that team trainers gave him pain injections;

* His statement that he received many vitamin B-12 injections;

* His statement that he never discussed HGH with Brian McNamee;

* His statement that he was not at then-teammate Jose Canseco's home during a party which took place in early June 1998; and

* His statement that he was never told about George Mitchell's request to speak to him prior to the release of the Mitchell Report. ...

[A]n accusation does not necessarily make a conviction likely, especially in a perjury case, especially in this perjury case. Many of Clemens' statements are exceedingly difficult to square with known facts and common sense. At the same time, many of the witnesses against Clemens already face credibility issues ...

In the meantime, Roger Clemens has a date with federal agents, a finger print ink pad and a mug shot photographer. Because he is about to be criminally charged.