When Roger Clemens took his steroid controversy to court in 2008, the New York Daily News looked forward to it because someone was guaranteed to lie under oath – either Clemens or trainer Brian McNamee. Today, the New York Times reported, the United States made its decision: it’s Clemens who will be charged with lying to Congress.
It was simple: Clemens testified he never used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. McNamee said Clemens did. The court of public opinion apparently didn’t believe Clemens, and it looks like Congress didn’t, either.
According to the New York Times’ Michael Schmidt (not that one), we can expect an announcement on the charges later today. We’ll update with details about that statement as they become available. All we can say now is we’re not looking forward to this latest steroids ordeal.
UPDATE 2: From the statement officially announcing the charges:
“Americans have a right to expect that witnesses who testify under oath before Congress will tell the truth,” United States Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. said in a statement announcing the indictment. “Our government can not function if witnesses are not held accountable for false statements made before Congress. Today the message is clear: if a witness makes a choice to ignore his or her obligation to testify honestly, there will be consequences.”
The framing is just as Schmidt suspected: “Don’t mess with Congress.” Is it safe to say that, at this point, Clemens wishes he never requested a day in court?
UPDATE: SportsCenter has understandably been talking about this news on their program today. Video of Schmidt discussing the story with ESPN below. He echoes what we already thought: it’s not a shock that yet more people think Clemens was lying.
Schmidt also said he thinks the goal of the charges is to “try and protect Congress.” Essentially, if they think someone’s lying to them and do nothing about it…well, then they’re pushovers. So, they better do something so people can’t get away with falsehoods, because if there’s anything Congress doesn’t need, it’s ANOTHER reason for people to view it negatively. Makes sense to us. Clip:
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