The publisher and authors of a book about steroid use in major league baseball were sued today by a Texas man who says they falsely claimed he was “pushing” steroids to professional athletes and using his gym as a front for selling drugs, according to The Gibson Law Firm.
Former gym owner Kelly Blair, of Deer Park, Texas, alleges that the book - “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime” (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) - falsely linked him to an “underground steroid network,” a convicted murderer and drug dealer, drug smuggling from Mexico and Canada, and the preparation of “collections of drugs” shipped to professional athletes.
Blair also is scheduled to testify on Tuesday before a federal grand jury in Washington.
...Blair’s attorney, Jason A. Gibson, of The Gibson Law Firm, stated, “As the lawsuit alleges, Kelly Blair was maliciously and recklessly defamed by the authors and publishers of this book and at least one dubious source whose false allegations they published. Kelly looks forward to his day in court on this matter. In the meantime, he looks forward to testifying tomorrow before the grand jury in Washington.”
The defendants in the lawsuit are authors Michael O’Keeffe, Christian Red, Teri Thompson, and Nathaniel Vinton, all of whom are reporters for the New York Daily News; Robin Dobbins, a Deer Park, Texas man who was a source for the book; and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, of New York.
Repoz
Posted: August 10, 2009 at 04:28 PM |
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Wait, his name is "Christian Red?"
Sources: Kelly Blair made boasts about juicing Clemens, Pettitte & Bagwell from the Daily News
Texas trainer with link to Pettitte may be key to Roger Clemens’ perjury probe also from the Daily News.
Or an high-end brand that Eric would drink at Fangtasia
/closet fan of "True Blood"
I used to believe in The Rocket, wholly and with all the tenderness in my heart. Later, I switched my allegiance to the crusading goodness of the Daily News Steroid I-Team™. If my faith is befouled twice, I don't know what will become of me.
Rusty Hardin's comment to the media in response was priceless. Something along the lines of "Now step back and understand what's happening here. Roger Clemens says, 'You. You did not provide me with illegal steroids' -- and he's being sued for defamation."
Rollicking good times.
I also love McNamee's position here: "I'm a drug dealer, not a liar!"
Of course, the other problem is that McNamee is a liar. A self-confessed one.
McNamee's suit is insane; he had won (on a technicality) most of Clemens' suit against him, and yet now he's inviting Clemens to dig into his personal life.
Even though I don't particularly believe Clemens' side of things, I'll agree that McNamee is just asking for trouble by suing Clemens. After all, while almost everything that Clemens is accused of is sleazy, I don't remember there being anything that he's been accused of that was notable illegal.
McNamee is an admitted dealer, and a possible rapist, and that's just information that's already out there. And Clemens definitely has the money to hire a whole ton of private investigators and lawyers to dig through every single corner of McNamee's past.
McNamee also sues for malicious prosecution; I'm not intimately familiar with that cause of action, but it's not clear to me that a dismissal based on immunity/lack of personal jurisdiction constitutes a favorable termination for malicious prosecution purposes.
Finally, McNamee claims IIED because in the telephone conversation that Clemens taped and released at that press conference, McNamee discussed his son's "private medical information." That's not IIED.
I repeat my earlier prediction: Clemens will not be indicted on the evidence that is public right now. They'll need something more. And it's obvious they're trying to fish for evidence from Blair. But it would be silly for Blair to state publicly that he didn't supply Clemens, yet tell a different story in front of the grand jury.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2009/08/11/2009-08-11_former_mlb_pitcher_jason_grimsley.html#ixzz0NuDTTAQQ
And it should be so easy to prove this "obvious" truth that Clemens perjured himself. But apparently, Mike Lupica's rantings don't count as evidence.
(If they can't convict, it's not a sign of lack of evidence; it just means Greg Anderson is covering for him.)
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