Brian McNamee’s History–Credibility?

I don’t want to be perceived as making a case for Roger Clemens as he attacks Brian McNamee’s credibility. However, I’m able to check the blog’s stats and see what people are searching for (on search engines) that leads them to this website. What I’ve seen is that quite a few people are looking for more information on Brian McNamee’s history and therefore, here’s a really detailed review of McNamee’s background, courtesy of ESPN.

One event, in particular, that stands out above the rest (that can help Clemens’ case) is McNamee’s “rape incident,” which occurred in late 2001 while working for the Yankees. Situated below is text directly from that ESPN article which outlines the event in question.

Despite his efforts to branch out, McNamee kept a low profile until October of 2001, when he was suddenly in the New York tabloids. According to police reports, an employee of a St. Petersburg, Fla., hotel where the Yankees were staying had noticed a man and a woman apparently having sex in the hotel pool, while another man looked on from a few feet away. All three were naked in the pool. One of the men, Charles Wonsowicz, the former St. John’s pitcher who was now the Yankees’ video technician, left immediately when confronted by the employee. The other, McNamee, continued to hold on to the woman until the hotel employee asked him to leave again, according to police documents.

“You mean now?” he said. McNamee got out of the pool, leaving behind the woman, who witnesses said appeared “out of it.” She said to the hotel employee, “Help me,” and then McNamee pulled her out of the pool and tried to put clothes back on her.

Employees called police, and an ambulance also arrived. It turned out the woman had ingested a near fatal dose of GHB, a powerful drug used by bodybuilders, teenage “ravers” and date rapists — who have used it to incapacitate victims. A bottle of the GHB was found on the pool deck.

Police investigated the incident as a rape and questioned McNamee the next morning.

The report of Detective Don Crotty, who questioned McNamee, cites McNamee as lying several times during the questioning: about where he first met the woman, saying it was the hotel lobby rather than another bar, as other witnesses said; and about his whereabouts over the course of the night. McNamee didn’t mention that he was with the woman with several other Yankees players in Chuck Knoblauch’s room. He denied to police that he even knew Wonsowicz, his college teammate and fellow Yankees employee. He said Wonsowicz looked familiar, and he might be a “green fly,” ballplayer slang for a hanger-on who looks for autographs.

For more than a month in 2001, McNamee was a suspect. However, no charges were filed. Early in the investigation, the woman lied to investigators about her reason for being at the Renaissance Vinoy hotel — she was having an affair with another Yankees employee who was married, and didn’t want to reveal that. When investigators realized this, they declined to pursue the investigation of McNamee. A few months later, the Yankees quietly let McNamee go. But Clemens and Pettitte kept using him as their personal trainer.

If you get a chance, please read the rest of the article as well (in its entirety), since it provides a much more complete and comprehensive history of the man’s life that doesn’t focus solely on this one incident. It is strange that Clemens and Pettitte, being such self-described “family men,” would even associate with someone linked to the event described above (even if the charges weren’t filed), especially after he was let go by the club.

Nonetheless, as you can clearly see, there are a string of events in McNamee’s history which could definitely be criticized by a laywer who is looking to establish levels of credibility based upon the nature of one’s character. If this is the case, Clemens won’t even have to lie during his 60 Minutes interview about trusting McNamee’s allegations. All he’ll have to do is recall incidents from the past that pertain to him and stain his credibility that way.

It works for politicians, so why not here?