Waxman requests Tejada investigation

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether baseball star Miguel Tejada told the truth the last time the committee spoke to him as part of its investigation of steroids in Major League Baseball.

{mosads}In his opening statement at Tuesday’s hearing on steroids in baseball, Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said the committee interviewed Tejada as part of its 2005 investigation. The player’s testimony was never made public out of respect for his privacy.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell’s (D-Maine) report into the use of performance-enhancing drugs by players “contradicts key elements of Mr. Tejada’s testimony,” according to Waxman.

“The conflict is stark and fundamental to the committee’s 2005 investigation,” Waxman said.

Waxman said he and Waxman and ranking member Tom Davis (R-Va.) were asking Justice to investigate in light of Mitchell’s report on Tejada, a former American League most valuable player winner.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Mitchell are among those testifying at today’s hearing.