WASHINGTON — Connecting the dots in the case against Roger Clemens, prosecutors brought convicted steroids dealer Kirk Radomski to the grand jury Thursday, a day before they’re to meet with Brian McNamee, who says he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with performance-enhancing drugs.
A federal grand jury has been asked to determine whether Clemens should be indicted on charges of lying to Congress last year when he denied using steroids and human growth hormone.
Radomski and McNamee, Clemens’ former personal trainer, figure to be among the primary witnesses against the former baseball star.
McNamee is to meet with prosecutors in Washington on Friday, a person familiar with the investigation said, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because the session was to be private. McNamee’s meeting originally had been set for Tuesday but was postponed.
That likely is a precursor to McNamee’s answering questions in front of the grand jury, just as Radomski met with Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Butler before his courthouse appearance.
Wearing a dark jacket, Radomski walked silently as he was escorted out of the restricted-access grand-jury area a little before 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and was not seen returning. Butler left the grand-jury area shortly thereafter, about two hours after he arrived at the courthouse.
Butler would not comment on his way in or out, and Radomski’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
“I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation,” Radomski told ESPN.com. “I don’t want to do anything to cross them up.”
Radomski, a former New York Mets’ clubhouse attendant who admitted giving dozens of major leaguers steroids and human growth hormone, pleaded guilty in 2008 to distributing steroids and laundering money. He led federal investigators and baseball investigator George Mitchell to McNamee, Clemens’ former personal trainer.
McNamee told federal agents and Mitchell that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and HGH from 1998-01. McNamee also provided government agents with syringes and other items his lawyers said would link Clemens to drug use.
McNamee repeated his allegations under oath to congressional investigators and at a public House hearing in February — and Clemens testified in the same settings that he did not use performance-enhancers.
“I have never taken steroids or HGH,” the pitcher said under oath.
But former teammates Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch both acknowledged to Congress that McNamee was correct when he said they used performance-enhancers.
Clemens’ denials in sworn testimony prompted Congress to ask the Justice Department to look into whether Clemens lied, and the case was brought before a grand jury after an 11-month FBI inquiry.
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