MLB

JUICY TWIST TO D.C. SHOWDOWN

On the eve of today’s dramatic Capitol Hill showdown between Roger Clemens and his accuser, Brian McNamee, Clemens was dealt a knockdown pitch yesterday when potentially damning details of Andy Pettitte’s sworn affidavit to a congressional committee leaked out.

The Associated Press, quoting a person familiar with the affidavit, said Pettitte’s testimony detailed a conversation between the Yankee pitchers nearly 10 years ago – in which Clemens admitted to Pettitte he used human growth hormone.

Pettitte disclosed the conversation to the congressional committee holding today’s hearings on drug use in baseball. The AP source spoke on condition of anonymity because the affidavit had not been made public.

According to the source, who said the affidavit was signed Friday night, Pettitte also said Clemens backtracked when the subject of HGH came up again in conversation in 2005, before the same House committee held the first hearing on steroids in baseball.

Pettitte said in the affidavit that he asked Clemens in 2005 what he would do if asked by the media about HGH, given his admission years earlier.

According to the source, the affidavit said Clemens responded by saying Pettitte misunderstood the previous exchange in 1999 or 2000 and that, in fact, Clemens had been talking about HGH use by his wife in the original conversation.

“We don’t know what Andy said,” Clemens’ lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said in an e-mail statement last night. “We look forward to hearing [today].”

All this is just the latest precursor to today’s much-anticipated hearing, when Clemens and McNamee will sit near each other at a table in Room 2154 of the Rayburn Building – the same spot where, three years ago, Mark McGwire melted under the congressional spotlight.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will grill Clemens and McNamee, trying to uncover which one’s story is to be believed.

Plenty of questions remain. Did McNamee inject Clemens at least 16 times with steroids and human growth hormone? Was Clemens’ success from 1998 on aided by drugs? Is McNamee, who has been a suspect in a rape case, believable? Why did McNamee keep syringes and gauze pads he says contain Clemens’ blood and steroids in his basement for seven years?

“This hearing is in search of the truth,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), a committee member.

The truth has been harder to find in this case than bipartisan agreement, though. Just yesterday Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the ranking minority member of the committee, said he was misquoted by Newsday when the newspaper reported he said Pettitte’s affidavit backs up McNamee.

“He was misquoted or misunderstood on several fronts,” said a source close to Davis. “He hadn’t even seen Pettitte’s affidavit yet.”

Another source said Pettitte’s testimony had no “loose ends” so the committee decided to spare him the embarrassment of testifying on national TV today. The source said his answers were “succinct and clear,” and though the source said not to expect bombshells, Pettitte’s testimony did not help his friend and former teammate.

This morning’s drama begins at 10 o’clock, around the time players likely will be working out on fields in Florida and Arizona. This year it’s a pitcher and a catcher (McNamee played at St. John’s) reporting to Capitol Hill that will draw all the attention.

Clemens spent yesterday meeting with six more members of the committee, bringing the total to 25 he met with. McNamee spent time in meeting with his lawyers planning for today.

The circus atmosphere surrounding this hearing has some members of the committee questioning why it’s even taking place.

“I’m not looking forward to it,” Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) said last night. “I feel we’ve gone beyond our mandate. Our mandate is not to decide the legacy of individual baseball players.”

He also questions whether today’s hearing can solve the question of who is telling the truth.

“I hope and pray Roger is telling the truth,” said Shays, who met with Clemens privately last week. “He’s a sports icon. He’s a remarkable player. Brian McNamee is, frankly, kind of sleazy. I hope he’s the one that is lying. I hope someone who a lot of Americans look up to is telling the truth.”

If Clemens is not telling the truth, there will be one member of the audience sure to take notice. There is expected to be a seat reserved for IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, the lead investigator in BALCO and the man who questioned McNamee originally. Congress may refer this matter to the Justice Department at some point, or Novitzky could open an investigation on his own.

Clemens seems to have the tougher battle in proving his innocence, because you can’t prove a negative and Mitchell has said he believes McNamee.

“Who has the uphill battle?” Cummings said. “We have to wait to see. That’s going to depend on how the testimony of Mr. McNamee goes, and it also will depend on how Roger Clemens’ testimony goes. We are one of the few committees, because we are investigative, people have to come in, they put up their right hand and swear to tell the truth. If someone fails to do that, they stand a chance of being brought to justice.”

The Clemens Hearing

WHAT: A hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the Mitchell Report.

WHO: Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee will testify.

WHERE: 2154 Rayburn Building, Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Today, 10 a.m.

ON THE AIR: SNY, YES, ESPN & ESPNEWS, CSPAN3, FOX Business Network.

brian.costello@nypost.com

The AP contributed to this report.