McGwire subpoenaed to testify on steroids

NEW YORK — Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire and four other current major league players were subpoenaed Wednesday to testify before a congressional committee investigating steroids policy, a move baseball's leadership vowed to fight all the way to court.

Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas also were subpoenaed to appear at the March 17 hearing of the House Government Reform Committee along with players' association head Donald Fehr, baseball executive vice presidents Rob Manfred and Sandy Alderson and San Diego general manager Kevin Towers.

Stanley Brand, a lawyer for the baseball commissioner's office, criticized the committee for an "an absolutely excessive and unprecedented misuse of congressional power." He said the committee was interfering with the federal grand jury investigation in California into illegal distribution by subpoenaing Giambi, a grand jury witness who might have to testify at a trial.

"Not even the Iran-Contra committee attempted to do that," Brand said.

Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer, declined comment.

Brand and Manfred said baseball will attempt to fight the subpoenas. If the subpeonas are not complied with, the committee could vote contempt citations, which would have to be approved by the full House of Representatives, and certified by a U.S. Attorney. If that happened, Brand said the fight over the subpoenas would head to U.S. District Court.

Canseco, Fehr and Manfred have agreed to testify. Manfred would speak on behalf of baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

"The remaining witnesses, however, made it clear — either by flatly rejecting the invitation to testify or by ignoring our repeated attempts to contact them — they had no intention of appearing before the committee," committee chairman Rep. Tom Davis and Rep. Henry Waxman, the ranking Democrat, said in a statement.

Thomas said Monday he would testify, but baseball's formal response to the committee on Tuesday said he was declining the invitation.

"The committee will conduct a thorough, fair, and responsible investigation. It is important the American people know the facts on baseball's steroid scandal," Davis and Waxman said. "And it is important that all Americans, especially children, know about the dangers of drug use. Consistent with our committee's jurisdiction over the nation's drug policy, we need to better understand the steps MLB is taking to get a handle on the steroid issue, and whether news of those steps — and the public health danger posed by steroid use — is reaching America's youth."