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Clemens famously told Congress in 2008 that Pettitte "misremembers" or "misheard" their conversation, and that's one of the 15 alleged false and misleading statements listed under the charge of obstruction of Congress. In his congressional deposition, Clemens said he was blindsided when he learned that Pettitte had used HGH on a couple of occasions. "Shocked. Shocked. When I first -- when I first heard it I said, 'No way.' I was shocked," Clemens said. He used the word "shocked" 10 times within 11 sentences. After his testimony Wednesday, Pettitte signed a baseball in the hallway and left the courthouse in a black SUV without commenting, free to continue his comeback attempt with the New York Yankees. Prosecutors did get a minor victory later in the day when the judge allowed them to address in slightly greater detail the overall problem of performance-enhancing drug use in baseball to support Congress' involvement in the matter. Clemens' lawyers contend the 2008 hearing was a "show trial" of Clemens and not meant to serve a legislative purpose. The government brought back congressional staffer Phil Barnett, whose testimony was interrupted Tuesday by Pettitte's arrival as a witness from out of town. Barnett, who was majority staff director of the committee that held the 2008 hearing, mentioned former major league stars Rafael Palmeiro and Chuck Knoblauch for the first time as players who have been associated with performance-enhancing drug use. Barnett was followed by federal agent Jeff Novitzky, who helped spearhead drugs-in-sports investigations
-- including those of baseball's Barry Bonds and star cyclist Lance Armstrong
-- first while working for the Internal Revenue Service and now at the Food and Drug Administration. Prosecutors showed jurors photos of needles, gauze and other materials that Novitzky collected from McNamee, Clemens' former strength coach. McNamee says he used the items while injecting Clemens. A lawyer for Clemens has called the evidence a "mixed-up hodgepodge of garbage." Novitzky will return to the stand Thursday.
[Associated
Press;
AP Sports Writer Joseph White contributed to this report.
Follow Fred Frommer at http://twitter.com/ffrommer.
Follow Joseph White at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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