Report: Clemens, McNamee had lengthy conversation Friday night

Ever since the Mitchell report was released Dec. 13, Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, have been trading barbs via lawyers through the media. According to a published report, they spoke by phone Friday night.

While it is uncertain who initiated the call, a source told New York Newsday the conversation lasted about an hour and could be described as "emotional."

In the Mitchell report, McNamee said he injected Clemens with steroids during the pitcher's career.

The paper also reported that the verbal back-and-forth between Clemens and McNamee has drawn the attention of Jeff Novitzky, an IRS special agent responsible for the indictment of Barry Bonds in November on felony charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

A person familiar with the situation told Newsday on Saturday that Novitzky has turned his focus toward Clemens in the wake of the exchanges between Clemens and McNamee.

A "60 Minutes" interview with Clemens is scheduled to air Sunday night. He is expected to refute McNamee's claims that the trainer injected the embattled pitcher with steroids.

Clemens says McNamee injected him with lidocaine and vitamin B-12, not steroids or human growth hormone, according to a portion of the interview that was released Thursday.

"Lidocaine and B-12. It's for my joints, and B-12 I still take today," Clemens told interviewer Mike Wallace. It is Clemens' first interview since the release of the Mitchell report.

According to CBS, Clemens calls the accusation that he used steroids and HGH "ridiculous" and says he never used any banned substances. The interview was conducted at Clemens' home in Katy, Texas, a suburb west of Houston.

Clemens is scheduled to hold a news conference Monday.

Earl Ward, an attorney for McNamee, said his client stands by "everything he said to Senator Mitchell and federal investigators."

"Brian has a master's degree in sports medicine," Ward told ESPN The Magazine's Shaun Assael. "He knows the difference between lidocaine, B-12 and testosterone. What he injected into Roger Clemens wasn't lidocaine or B-12. It was testosterone."

Another lawyer for McNamee, Richard Emery, has threatened to sue Clemens for defamation.

"I think that this is a lawyers' game, which allows him to try and attempt to say that McNamee didn't know what he was injecting or that at least Clemens didn't know what he was injecting,'' Emery said.

"It really depends now on how the whole interview goes, and whether he goes after Brian. Look, I don't care whether Clemens used Sodium Pentothal. I don't care if he used strontium 90. My only concern is for Brian's well-being and his future.''

Clemens is on a short list of former players who have been invited to speak before a congressional hearing discussing the Mitchell report on Jan. 15 and 16.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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