America: Brian McNamee is a self-confessed liar who has been misleading journalists and investigators for years about his role in administering banned steroids to some of the most illustrious giants of baseball.
So it should have been no contest when a congressional committee this week compared his story to that of Roger Clemens, the brightest baseball star of his generation.
That, at least, is what Clemens thought when he insisted that the House oversight committee hold a public hearing into allegations that McNamee injected him with steroids over a period of years. "I appreciate the opportunity to tell this committee and the public under oath what I have been saying all along - I've never used steroids, human growth hormone or any other type of illegal performance-enhancing drugs," Clemens told the committee.
"The suggestion I would use steroids or other illegal drugs is totally incompatible with who I am and what I stand for. Steroids are a dangerous shortcut. I've made no secret of my feelings on the subject and I practise what I preach."
After more than four hours of questioning, however, both men emerged with their reputations shredded and most Americans now believe that Clemens is at least as blatant a liar as his accuser.
"It's hard to believe you, sir. I hate to say that," said Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings. "You're one of my heroes, but it's hard to believe." Clemens was the most prominent among dozens of current and former major league players identified in a report by former senator George Mitchell as having used performance-enhancing drugs.
Clemens won 354 games during his 24-year career and is regarded as one of the greatest players in baseball history.
McNamee, who sat only a few feet away from Clemens throughout the hearing, has claimed that he injected the player with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times between 1998 and 2001. Under questioning, Clemens appeared uneasy, fumbling answers and failing to explain contradictions in his testimony. McNamee admitted that he lied numerous times about his involvement in the steroid scandal but insisted that he was now telling the truth, a claim that has been confirmed by Clemens' former teammate and close friend Andy Pettitte.
The questioning broke down along party lines, with Democrats focusing on Clemens while Republicans questioned McNamee's credibility. McNamee's lawyers suggested later that Republicans were protecting Clemens on account of his friendship with former president George HW Bush and his links to prominent Republican donors in Texas.
"It is certainly my view, that they got a direction from elsewhere, whether it's directly from the White House or the Republican Party, who knows, that they were there to support Clemens," attorney Richard Emery said.
"It would be the easiest thing in the world for George W Bush, given the corrupt proclivities of his administration, to say Roger Clemens is an American hero, Roger Clemens helped children. It's my belief they have some reason to believe they can get a pardon." Clemens' representatives dismissed Emery's assertion as ridiculous, sticking to their claim that the baseball star is a victim of his own trusting nature whose confidence was abused by McNamee.
"He's done every single thing that people howling at him say he would do if he were innocent. And now he's through. Roger has done everything he can to address these concerns now, and he's going to try to resume his normal life," Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin said.
Throughout the hearing, a tall, bald man in a dark suit sat listening, taking notes as McNamee and Clemens testified. This was Jeff Novitzky, an Internal Revenue Service investigator who has driven prosecutions of baseball star Barry Bonds and athlete Marion Jones.
Jones pleaded guilty last year to lying about her steroid use to federal agents and Bonds is under indictment on similar charges. Both Jones and Bonds are African-American and civil rights activists and black politicians are watching closely to see if Clemens faces the same level of scrutiny from federal agents.
"I don't want kids to think that because of their circumstances, if they do something wrong they'll get punished and someone else will not be punished because of where they live or how they look," Cummings said. "That's not the message we want to send to our children."
