Roger Clemens may be investigated by the Department of Justice for possibly committing perjury, but his lawyer appears to be unfazed by the recent turn of events.

Rusty Hardin, one of two lawyers representing Clemens as the seven-time Cy Young Award winner defends himself against allegations that he took steroids and human growth hormone, said he welcomes the investigation and looks forward to trying this case in a court of law.

"I am delighted to be where there are now going to be some rules," Hardin said during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon at his Houston office. "This has been a very frustrating experience for us, because as you all know, in the court of public opinion, there's no rules. Now we're in an arena where the scale's going to be balanced."

The congressional committee that investigated the accuracy of the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs has sent a letter to the Department of Justice, asking that the top prosecuting arm in the U.S. determine whether Clemens committed perjury in sworn testimony.

The top-ranking committee members, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Tom Davis (R-Va.), said in the letter that Clemens "committed perjury and made knowingly false statements during the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's investigation of the use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs in professional baseball."

In the 2 1/2 months since the Dec. 13 release of former Sen. George Mitchell's examination of the history of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, Clemens has steadfastly denied all allegations that he abused steroids and HGH. He has filed a defamation suit against his accuser and former trainer, Brian McNamee, and reportedly was insistent upon following through with the Feb. 13 hearing before the House committee, even after the committee recommended a cancellation.

Hardin insisted that his client was warned from the beginning that he could eventually be investigated by the Department of Justice.

"He knew every one of the potential legal risks he was running," Hardin said. "He made the decision that he had nothing to fear in the end result, though in the short-term, there would be problems. He knew the short-term problems. This referral is one of them. He knew about it.

"But he is absolutely insistent that he did not take steroids, he did not take human growth hormone, and it would have been hypocritical and in violation of everything he's ever believed in to act as if he did by hunkering down. Rightly or wrongly, he chose not to hunker down, but to come out publicly and defend himself."

Clemens' sworn testimony contradicted the statements of McNamee, who testified that he injected Clemens with anabolic steroids and HGH over several years when the Rocket was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.

In the congressmen's letter to the Department of Justice, they contend that "Mr. Clemens' testimony is also contradicted by the sworn deposition testimony and affidavit submitted to the Committee by Andrew Pettitte, a former teammate of Mr. Clemens, whose testimony and affidavit reported that Mr. Clemens had admitted to him in 1999 or 2000 that he had taken human growth hormone."

Hardin said he looks forward to the legal process, which he feels will allow Clemens to defend himself in an arena that does not include the glare of the public scrutiny his client has endured since the Mitchell Report was released.

"The fact that some congressmen had questions [during the Feb. 13 hearing] and some congressmen don't believe and some congressmen did believe, the point is, nobody has had any of the accusers subject to that hallowed event called cross examination," Hardin said.

"When I was a prosecutor, I used to think the most hallowed words in the English language were, 'Your Honor, we call the defendant to the stand.' Now that I'm in private practice, I think the most hallowed words are, 'Mr. Hardin, it's your time to cross examine.' That hasn't been done yet, and I'm confident that when it is, and when the witnesses from Roger's side are heard, there will be a big change."

The committee did not recommend to the Department of Justice that they investigate McNamee for possible perjury. Hardin was not surprised, given his view that Waxman sided with the trainer.

"I wasn't surprised, simply because I don't think Chairman Waxman would have allowed for that to happen," Hardin said. "He is the man who apologized to an admitted dope dealer for having been cross-examined. I can't imagine, as chairman of that committee, him allowing Brian McNamee to be referred. Do I think Brian McNamee should have been? Of course I do. But am I surprised he wasn't? No, not in that atmosphere."

Among the other topics Hardin addressed during his 20-minute press conference was Pettitte's testimony that he had a conversation about HGH with Clemens in 1999 or 2000 and again in 2005. Clemens told the committee that Pettitte may have "misremembered" their exchange, saying it was his wife, Debbie, and not Clemens, who had used HGH.

"The congressional intent, and much of the public reaction is that the perception of what Andy's saying is extremely harmful to Roger from the public perception," Hardin said. "We, in turn, have not uttered one adverse word about Andy, because we believe that he's an honest person and we believe what he's saying. I don't think there's any question. I do think if you do look at his deposition, and compare it to his affidavit, the affidavit, which is what Roger was asked before Congress, is much more uncertain than his deposition testimony."

But when reminded that Pettitte's testimony regarding his own HGH use corroborated McNamee's, Hardin replied, "Does that mean that Andy's wrong? Of course not. I'm just simply saying if you go through all the testimony, inconsistencies go along with all of them. That doesn't mean that everybody's intentionally misstating things.

"The last time I checked, it's sill not a crime to be mistaken. It's only a crime to intentionally lie about something that's material to it. It's not a crime, yet, to turn out to be wrong about something, as long as you didn't intentionally mislead and lie."

Until recently, Clemens' public fight with McNamee was seemingly designed to clear Rocket's name in the court of public opinion, but the stakes are higher now that the case has turned into a legal matter. However, Clemens' good name appears to still be a major concern for his attorney.

"Will he ever enjoy the same reputation he had before this? No," Hardin said. "And he knows that. To me, that's the tragedy of the Mitchell Report being willing to slander these guys. You don't get it back. On the other hand, do you have a duty to yourself to do the best you can? Roger has opted to believe he has a duty to himself and those who believe him, to do the best he can, to restore the best he can."