Smackdown? No, McMahon skips hearing

Vince McMahon, the larger-than-life chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), rejected criticism from lawmakers who angrily accused him Wednesday of skipping a subcommittee hearing regarding drug use in sports.

McMahon, who has endured media criticism over the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by wrestlers and for the deaths of many former entertainers in his company, said the criticism was “unfair and inaccurate.”

{mosads}Speaking to The Hill, he said that he had already told the committee that a scheduling conflict would prevent him from attending, but that he had cooperated in full.

“I am not hiding from anything here,” McMahon said in an interview. “That is just not the case. It is unfair to say that I refused to come.”

McMahon was harshly criticized for his non-appearance by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee for Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

The hearing was the first sign by Capitol Hill that Major League Baseball would not be the exclusive focus of its look into athletes’ use of steroids, human growth hormone (HGH) and other performance-enhancing drugs. Congress’s probe has broadened beyond the theatrics of pitcher Roger Clemens’s testimony two weeks ago — now being referred to the Justice Department for a perjury investigation — as lawmakers seem determined to offer legislation that would set federal guidelines for drug testing for all sports.

Executives from America’s major sports leagues and players’ unions put up stiff resistance to calls from lawmakers to find a federal solution to the problem of performance-enhancing drugs. Many of the representatives for baseball, basketball, football and ice hockey told members that legislation to rid their respective games of steroids, HGH and other such drugs was not necessary since they already heeded Congress’s demands to clean up their acts several years ago.

WWE has been plagued by allegations of steroid use by its wrestlers. In denouncing McMahon, Rush cited the tragedy of Chris Benoit, a WWE performer who committed suicide last year after killing his wife and child. Benoit had anabolic steroids in his system, according to a toxicology report.

Rush said he was “extremely disappointed” with McMahon for not coming to Capitol Hill Wednesday. In remarks at the hearing, the Illinois Democrat promised to pursue the matter of performance-enhancing drugs further with or without the cooperation of McMahon. {mospagebreak}

Rush received praise from across the aisle for his tough stance with McMahon. Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) commended Rush and said the WWE chairman should be put in the spotlight on the subject of performance-enhancing drugs.

“Someone who flips his finger at this committee deserves to be called out,” Terry said.

{mosads}McMahon, however, said he wrote to the committee in January to say that his attorney, Jerry McDevitt, would be in Pittsburgh as lead counsel for another client on trial at the time of the hearing. That same Jan. 28 letter also stressed that McMahon’s decision not to appear without his counsel in “no way reflects unwillingness on the part of Mr. McMahon or WWE to assist the Subcommittee’s inquiry.”

Since the letter, McMahon told The Hill, “I have not heard one word from this committee.”

McMahon pointed out that Rush’s original invitation for him to appear said witnesses have a right to be accompanied by counsel under House rules. “He has been my personal lawyer for 20 years,” McMahon said of McDevitt.

McMahon also noted that he was interviewed by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staff, and that the WWE had already provided roughly 3,000 pages of documents last summer to that committee and to Rush’s subcommittee for its own investigation into steroids.

“I have cooperated in every conceivable way,” said McMahon, who added that the WWE would still work with Rush’s subcommittee as it continues to probe performance-enhancing drugs in sports.

“I will continue to cooperate with the committee,” said McMahon.

Executives who did appear at the meeting, including National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern and National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, offered little or no support for federal legislation on performance-enhancing drugs. Many players’ union representatives said that they have negotiated successful testing regimes through their collective bargaining agreements.

In his opening statement, Rush said he resented the “elitists, the cynics and cultural critics who dismiss this issue as a populist spectacle.”

“I believe that we can move forward in a measured, deliberative and bipartisan manner with legislation that seriously tackles drugs in sports,” he said.

Rush’s subcommittee had worked on steroids in the past, passing a bill out of his panel in the 109th Congress. But the legislation never received a floor vote. Sports league officials said such action was uncalled for, though.

“The sports leagues have pretty much gotten it right in the previous three years,” said Stern. “I would say this area is where federal legislation is not necessary.”

“Mr. Stern, I would suggest we have not got it right enough for the past three years,” replied Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

However, though tough at times, lawmakers generally praised Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and others for taking steps to rid their leagues of steroids.

On the other hand, those who were not present — WWE’s McMahon and representatives for the sport of horseracing — faced the most criticism from the panel. Ranking member Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) entered into the hearing’s record e-mails to him from horse owners calling for federal action to rid the sport of steroids.

Several options were laid out before the league officials, such as supporting legislation that would adopt the recommendations of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell’s (D-Maine) report into baseball’s steroids era.

But except for Selig and Goodell, the sports league officials offered very little support for such a bill.