NEW YORK - Former senator George J. Mitchell, facing widespread criticism for his 21-month investigation on steroids in baseball, yesterday acknowledged the report was incomplete.
The Mitchell Report, at 400-plus pages, links 88 current or former major leaguers to performance-enhancing drug use, although Mitchell recommended no punishment and was clear he is aware there were drug users in baseball not named in the report.
"If you are going to say every single one of these guys must be punished . . . are we going to have another inquiry to find out if there are other names back then?" Mitchell asked in an interview at his law office of DLA Piper in Manhattan. "Because it's clear these are not the only names. There are very, very many others. We know that.
"If you think the single most important objective is to punish every player who ever used a performance-enhancing substance . . . there's not going to be any movement forward because when you're still fighting the past, you're not looking into the future."
Mitchell wanted the report to center around his recommendations - such as establishing a department of investigations to work with Major League Baseball - and about the health and well-being of high school students who emulate suddenly disgraced stars. Instead, he is facing criticism, particularly for being on the Red Sox' board of directors.
"My hope is on the second and third day they'll concentrate on the findings and recommendations and move forward," he said.
Mitchell says he deliberated before deciding to name names.
"What were my choices?" he said. "To not name any names would mean there would be no meaningful report. And I ask you to consider what others might be saying now if I said I looked into this; I've got a lot of information, but I'm not going to tell you.
"I was asked to report what I learned fairly, accurately, and thoroughly, and that's what I did."
Mitchell said he was hampered from the start.
"We made every effort to get only truthful testimony," he said. "I did not have the power of subpoena, so I could not compel anyone to cooperate. The testimonies were not under oath . . . this is not a judicial proceeding."
Some of the players named in the report, including Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, did not fail drug tests. The allegations come from testimony by former Yankees conditioning coach Brian McNamee, supported by Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegal steroid distribution. Radomski is participating with Mitchell as part of his plea bargain.
But Mitchell says all the information was verified and checked out.
"In each case, the witness was informed by the federal officials that they were to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, and if they made false statements they would subject themselves to further criminal jeopardy for making false statements. And in the case of Kirk Radomski, he further would have forfeited the commitment made by the US Attorney's office to recommend leniency in his sentence if he cooperated.
"We then made an effort over a period of months to corroborate the statements they made," Mitchell said. "We had admission by players there were 11 players who acknowledge that yes, they had purchased from Radomski, as he had said. There were positive drug tests, there were canceled checks, there were money orders, there were mailing receipts, and a whole host of records."
But most of the talk in New York is about Clemens, who was a stunning name revealed in Mitchell's report. Clemens's lawyer called the allegations "slander," but Mitchell disagreed.
"I offered to meet with [Clemens] to tell him what evidence I had," he said. "If he is denying it, he could have come in and denied it to me."
Mitchell says each player named had chances to defend himself.
"We received allegations about the use of performance-enhancing substances by players," Mitchell said. "With respect to every one of those players, I invited them to come and meet with me. Talk with me. My intention was to provide them with all the information that I received so they could respond.
"I wrote a series of letters beginning in June in which I listed the names of every player about whom I had received allegations and asked if the player would meet with me, and the Players' Association wrote back and they sent a list and said these players refused to meet with me."If they wanted to deny it, deny it, and I would have taken what they said into account. Almost without exception, those who I invited to meet with me declined."
In Clemens's case, McNamee said he injected him with steroids four times. Mitchell told a reporter to read Page 174.
"McNamee told Radomski, 'He's on the program,' or words to that effect," Mitchell said.
Mitchell is not escaping the wrath of Yankee fans, who claim Mitchell went after Yankee players.
"Radomski lives in New York, so does McNamee," Mitchell said. "I didn't select them. I didn't select who they dealt with."
He continued to defend the report, jabbing the air with gusto for a 74-year-old.
"How do you judge the affiliation of a player?" he asked. "Clemens pitched 13 years for Boston and six for New York. Many of these players move from club to club. There's more to this report than players' names."
Mitchell said all major league teams fielded players who cheated, and pointed out his impartiality by referring to an e-mail from Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein to a Sox scout regarding the alleged drug use of relief pitchers Eric Gagné and Brendan Donnelly.
"It suggests the reality is that we reported what we learned," said Mitchell, who also pointed out he is not currently on the board of directors for the Red Sox. "I'm not involved with the Red Sox. I've not been involved for some time and I won't be until this is all over. Call it a leave of absence."
Mitchell is also criticized for advocating leniency for the alleged cheaters.
"These allegations involved actions that happened 2 to 9 years ago," he said. "During that time, the rules changed several times . . . penalties changed three times . . . HGH wasn't even included till 2005 . . . Over half the players are no longer in baseball and they are outside the authority of the commissioner."
Mitchell acknowledged he was tired, but reiterated he wants baseball to move on.
"The most important objective now should be to move forward," he said. "You can't deal with the future if you spend all your time in the past, that's the most important lesson I learned in Northern Ireland."
Mitchell was hailed for his role in the 1998 Belfast Peace Agreement, which was signed on Good Friday in 1998.
"It was very difficult and emotional to this day and hard on the families involved . . . but it was a necessary step to moving forward.
"You must turn the page at some point."
