Pettitte Asks Out of Hearing

From Duff Wilson and Michael S. Schmidt of the NY Times:

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Oversight Committee is supporting Andy Pettitte’s request not to have to testify publicly against his former teammate Roger Clemens at a public hearing on Wednesday, a congressional staff person said Monday.

The chairman, Democrat Henry A. Waxman of California, wants to take Pettitte off the witness list but he is consulting with Republican members of the panel first, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Two other people familiar with the case said it is also possible that Clemens and his accuser, the former trainer Brian McNamee, may be the only witnesses who will ultimately testify on Wednesday.

Pettitte asked out of public testimony because he did not want to say something to hurt his friend and former teammate while in the glare of national television coverage, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

There has been no final decision on Pettitte’s request, the official said. A final witness list may be released shortly.

That part about not wanting to "say something to hurt his friend and former teammate while in the glare of national television coverage" sounds like he knows, and told congress, something incriminating about Clemens. Not good news for Defense Team Clemens.

Pettitte has already come clean, and there is no reason for Congress to make him trek back up to Washington to testify against his friend and former teammate. Let the man get ready for the upcoming season and put this mess behind him.

-- UPDATE 9:00 PM -- According to ESPN, on Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee will testify on at Wednesday's hearing.

New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, former Mets trainer Kirk Radomski, and former Yankee and Twins player Chuck Knoblauch will not testify before a Congressional committee Wednesday in Washington D.C., according to several lawyers close to the case.