More Heat for the Rocket
Roger Clemens may have talked himself into a tight legal squeeze. Congressional officials say the chief reason that the House Oversight Committee has asked Clemens—and four oth ers implicated in baseball's steroid scandal—to appear at a Jan. 16 hearing is that the seven-time Cy Young Award winner publicly challenged the credibility of December's Mitchell Report. "The com mittee thinks that's worth in vestigating," says a congres sional aide who asked for anonymity when discussing an ongoing official inquiry. Philip Schiliro, the com- mittee's chief of staff, told newsweek that the mem bers expect the five men to testify voluntarily. But if they refuse, two congressional sources say, the panel may well issue subpoenas. The of ficials say that witnesses will be asked to testify under oath, emphasizing that they could be prosecuted for lying to Congress if their testimony is later proved to be false.
The committee, chaired by Democratic investigative ace Rep. Henry Waxman, has also asked Clemens's longtime workout buddy Andy Pettitte to testify, as well as another prominent former New York Yankee, Chuck Knoblauch, and two admitted suppliers, Kirk Radomski and Brian Mc Namee, whose testimony was central to former senator George Mitchell's findings on alleged steroid use by major- league players. Mitchell said McNamee told him that he had personally injected Clemens with steroids. Clemens has ve hemently denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs; in an interview with "60 Minutes" on Sunday, he said that McNamee had injected him with vitamin B12 and lido caine, a legal painkiller. "Roger is willing to answer questions, including those posed to him under oath," said Clemens's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, in a statement. "We hope to deter mine shortly if schedules and other commitments can ac commodate the committee on that date." A lawyer for Mc Namee could not immediately be reached for comment.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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