Angry Clemens steps up defense

He plays tape of call but it sheds little light

January 08, 2008|Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff

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In the taped conversation, Clemens never seemed as though he were trying to get McNamee to say he was lying. Hardin said he spoke to Clemens before the conversation and told him, "The last thing in the world you want him to do is to have people say you're trying to talk him into anything. If you start asking for things and he's willing to give it to you, you're going to get into a situation where you're trying to bribe . . . not bribe, but affect a federal witness. Don't say anything that tries to get this guy to do anything in return for anything."

Hardin said Clemens thought all along that McNamee would have second thoughts about his testimony and come clean.

On the call, McNamee sounded distraught over his ill son, the fact that his wife had left him, and that he was living in a one-bedroom apartment. He often repeated, "What do you want me to do, Roger?" McNamee also repeated that Clemens had done more for him than anyone in his life and that Clemens taught him to be a father to his children.

"I'm telling the truth and I want it out there," Clemens said, to which McNamee responded, "Tell me what you want me to do. I'll go to jail. I'll do whatever you want."

Clemens, who told McNamee, "I need somebody to tell the truth, Mac," sounded sympathetic with McNamee's plight. Clemens also told him that his own wife "is a mess" and that their children were feeling the effects of the controversy.

Hardin disclosed that his own investigators went to see McNamee, who told them that federal agents told McNamee that the trainer was lying about Clemens's involvement in steroids at a time when McNamee at first wasn't giving anyone up.

Prefacing his comments by saying he wasn't accusing the feds of any wrongdoing, Hardin said McNamee told his investigators that "the feds believe Roger used and so the truth as far as the feds were concerned was that Roger used steroids. If the person who is going to decide perjury has already made up their mind that the truth is X, then the person they're talking to has a reason to do it. McNamee made it clear to our people that at the end of the first day and the end of the second day, they were insistent he was lying about Clemens. If you believe the person who has the hammer believes true is X and you're being offered a way to stay out of jail if you tell the truth, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the truth is."

Earl Ward, one of McNamee's lawyers, told ESPN Radio, "The tape adds absolutely nothing."

The next time McNamee speaks will be at the Congressional hearing, which is likely to be the next time Clemens will speak.

"I'm going to Congress and I'm going to tell the truth," Clemens said.