Baseball legend Roger Clemens is now giving sworn testimony to congressional staff members on the scandal of performance-enhancing drugs. It is a considerable risk for Clemens who appears intent on protecting his legacy — even at the risk of his liberty. He could lose both. Most defense lawyers would strongly discourage Clemens from testifying. In Washington, your client is much more likely to be charged with false statements than the original allegations in a scandal. It is how you react to a scandal that is often your downfall in D.C. With various people contradicting Clemens in his denial of the use of drugs, he is at great peril.As discussed here, Clemens is pursuing a defamation lawsuit that could also present some risks.He is appearing in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee after his Yankees teammate, Andy Pettitte, gave a 2 1/2 deposition to the committee. Moreover, Clemens’ former trainer Brian McNamee has stated that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with human growth hormone and steroids. McNamee claims to have syringes and other physical evidence to prove his allegation.For Clemens, it comes down to the choice of moving to protect his legacy or his liberty. If he is inconsistent or inaccurate, he could lose both his legacy and his liberty in this gamble. Ironically, if he insists on immunity, he would have been hard to prosecute given the high-visibility of the case. The more that such testimony is reported in the media, the more difficult it is for prosecutors to bring a criminal case — as evidenced by Oliver North’s reversed convictions in the Iran-Contra scandal.For the full story, click here