Clemens’s lawsuit will give him fig leaf to cover up before Congress

I’ll make this short and sweet. Clemens filed suit against MacNamee for defamation this morning. He has simultaneously created an out from the thorny problem of dealing with the Congressional grilling.

“Sorry, sir..but I have a lawsuit going and that’s the proper time and proper manner.”

We were having this discussion somewhere else, so I’ll just reprint my comments to some friends:

“I didn’t believe him. He shook his head when he was making some critical denials and had other body language that was evasive. I watched him carefully listening to what he said and how his body moved while he said it.

At times, responded to a question with a question or he went off on a tangent and didn’t answer. Just as an example, I didn’t buy “Andy’s situation and mine are totally different.” They are actually identical.

He filed a law suit this morning against MacNamee. You watch. He’ll reply to Congress with a letter saying he’d like to come, but his lawsuit is filed and he doesn’t want to jeopardize the lawsuit. That’s “the appropriate time and appropriate manner” he spoke about when the allegations broke and he’ll both hide behind the lawsuit to congress and his apologists can say “he’s being consistent” with what he said all along.

Congress will then send out the supboena and he’ll be as infamous as mcguire. A nice pair of bookends they’ll make: “I’m not here to talk about the past” on one side and “I’d like to talk to you, but my lawyer says I have to not say anything that could jeopardize my lawsuit” on the other, neatly avoiding all the nasty implications involved in taking the fifth officially. What’s congress going to do? Thriow him in jail for contempt? That would make him a martyr, the last thing they want. They did nothing to McGuire, Clemens is banking they’ll do the same in his case, no matter how many times they say to him “Your lawsuit doen’t insulate you from answering our Qs.” He’ll have a fig leaf of an excuse, and he’ll avoid perjury. He’ll bleed Macnamee dry of every cent he owns in the lawsuit, avenging his betrayal that way. He’ll lose ultimately, but he’ll have gotten his pound of flesh and the two of them will see each other in hell and they can continue the argument there.

It’s the bonfire of the vanities, baseball style.

Here’s my guess…he’s getting fine advice…the best a rich man can get. I think he’s not listening.”