WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Roger Clemens' chief accuser returned to the nation's capital on Friday. This time, Brian McNamee sat for five hours of questioning by the prosecution staff assigned to investigate whether Clemens committed perjury the last time McNamee was questioned in Washington.
McNamee, a former New York City cop, testified before a congressional hearing last February that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001. Clemens has steadfastly denied using performance-enhancing drugs, including under oath to Congress on the same day McNamee appeared.
On Friday, McNamee traveled here from New York by train, accompanied by his attorneys -- Richard Emery and Earl Ward -- to be interviewed by assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Butler. Just a day earlier in front of a grand jury, Butler quizzed Kirk Radomski, who has admitted supplying performance-enhancing drugs to McNamee, the former personal trainer to Clemens.
Perhaps not surprisingly, neither McNamee nor his attorneys divulged the particulars of the questioning.
"I can't tell you anything of what was said, but [the prosecutors] were extremely impressive, well-prepared and professional," Emery said after the meeting. "I have extreme confidence in their approach."
Asked for specifics about that approach, Emery said, "They are extremely well-prepared, very thoughtful. They have very interesting ideas about how to approach this, which was obvious by their questions. I think they have done a lot of work, a lot of investigation."
McNamee put himself at odds with Clemens when he signed a proffer agreement with federal prosecutors, stipulating that he could not be charged with steroid distribution as long as everything he told them was truthful. He also was asked to cooperate with the baseball-commissioned steroids investigation led by former Sen. George Mitchell, which made public McNamee's claims that he injected Clemens with steroids and growth hormone.
Congress decided to hold its hearing nearly a year ago after Clemens publicly challenged the veracity of the Mitchell report. The FBI began a perjury investigation of Clemens last February, two weeks after the pitching icon denied under oath the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The federal prosecutor apparently didn't tell McNamee or his attorneys on Friday whether McNamee will be subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury, though that is a likely next step.
"Logically, I would expect it," Emery said. "There is a grand jury [hearing evidence involving Clemens] and Brian is a central witness, so I would expect that he would be called."
That would be just the next legal tussle between Clemens and his former trainer. Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee last January. McNamee's attorneys have since argued to have the suit thrown out, and last month, they countered by filing a defamation suit on McNamee's behalf against Clemens.
In a video on the Web site Sportsimproper.com earlier this week, McNamee predicted that Clemens would end up in prison for lying under oath. McNamee told the host, "It's a known fact that I was told the evidence against him is overwhelming."
Asked after Friday's meeting if he, too, viewed the evidence as overwhelming, Emery said, "That is my impression. I don't think there is much doubt that [Clemens] lied to Congress. The evidence will clearly show it."
Mike Fish is an investigative reporter for ESPN.com.