Notes on Clemens/McNamee hearing coverage.

12:22 PM: The Congressional Hearing is being covered by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, MSNBC, FOX News Channel and CNN Headline News. From 12-1 PM ET, CNN aired its regular scheduled “Ballot Bowl” programming.
12:26 PM: FNC has a panel analyzing the situation. Shaun Assael of ESPN the Magazine is part of the panel, noting that Rep. Dan Burton was all over Brian McNamee “like white on rice.” Assael: “I’m going to be interested to see Roger Clemens’ wife testify. … This is where the most fearsome pitcher in baseball has ended up, blaming it all on his wife.”
Earlier today, the lower third graphic on FNC read “Pitcher versus Trainer: Who’s really lying to America?“
12:49 PM: After about a twenty minute break, FNC is covering the hearings again. MSNBC and HLN have not stopped their coverage.
FNC’s Gregg Jarrett: Committee chair Henry Waxman, Clemens’ lawyer Rusty Hardin “don’t like each other.” Jarrett on accusations against Clemens’ wife: “Clemens using his wife as the fall guy … Are we supposed to believe that Debbie Clemens used performance enhancing drugs and [Roger] didn’t?”
MSNBC has Congressional correspondent Mike Viqueira and Washington Post reporter Mike Wise on via satellite.
Wise: “I would say, only because the congressmen have really hammered at Clemens’ inconsistencies in his testimony, even more than Brian McNamee … at this point, Roger Clemens has some real problems, and at some point, some perjury charges could be leveled against him.”
Attorney Ivan Golde on CNN Headline News: “Clemens is going downhill and downhill fast … this is why a guilty man should never testify … this is what he gets testifying and being guilty.”
Golde: “[Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch] are credible sources, close friends and teammates of Roger Clemens. Why would they lie? It doesn’t make sense.”
1:05 PM: MSNBC is taking advantage of the 15 minute break in the hearings by quickly covering the presidential race. FNC is also covering politics.
CNN is finally taking a break from politics to cover the hearings. Reporter Gary Tuchman: “The most important single point is this: Andy Pettitte — everyone likes Andy Pettitte — he has acknowledged getting injections from McNamee. He also said … Roger Clemens talked to him about HGH. … It’s very confusing, very complicated, and while McNamee has lied before, it doesn’t look good. … This thing with the wife is quite disturbing.”
Tuchman: “A lot of the congressmen and congresswomen [are just] blabbering on.”
ESPN’s Roger Cossack: “As far as McNamee, he is who he is. He’s a guy who has done lots of things, some of which are bad. He’s no stranger to lying. … McNamee is a guy who is no stranger to lying. He clearly is street smart, he understood what he had to do. … McNamee’s a tough witness to sell.”
ESPN has Bob Ley and Karl Ravech hosting its coverage on SportsCenter.
Cossack: “I thought Brian McNamee’s initial statement was the worst moment for Clemens. … McNamee’s worst [moment] was when Dan Burton of Indiana took him down the list of lies he told. … Based on what I’ve seen today, I would think long and hard about whether I would bring a perjury charge.”
The hearing is back underway. CNN, ESPN, ESPNews, FNC, MSNBC and CNN Headline News are covering it.
1:37 PM: CNN has gone back to regular programming.
2:03 PM: MSNBC and FNC have both left the Congressional Hearing to cover a speech by President Bush.

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