"I cannot refute anything in the story," Mindy McCready told the New York Daily News last night, just one day after the paper printed an explosive article accusing the country singer of having a decade-long affair with baseball star Roger Clemens. "Yes, I have known Roger Clemens for a long time," she continued, reading from a prepared statement. "He's a kind and caring man."

The New York Daily News reports that the two met in a Florida karaoke bar when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer and Clemens was a 28-year-old Boston Red Sox pitcher, and also a married father of two children. Sources told the paper that a friendship ensued but that a sexual relationship did not begin until later, when McCready moved to Nashville to pursue her country music career.

The article goes on to claim that Clemens often sent McCready bundles of cash in FedEx packages, to help her pay for her many legal battles. The sources say that the two took lavish trips together to Las Vegas and New York, where they were once reportedly seen partying with Monica Lewinsky and Michael Jordan. McCready would also allegedly use Clemens' private plane for vacations with friends and family. And when she was in jail last year, serving time for assaulting her own mother and resisting arrest, the now 32-year-old McCready was reportedly still in contact with Clemens.

Clemens is now involved in his own legal woes, as he is under FBI investigation for perjury after denying, under oath, accusations of illegal steroid and hormone use during baseball season. A lawyer for Clemens' accuser says McCready will likely be called to testify if the perjury case goes to trial. McCready said last night that she believes Clemens will pull through this battle on top.

"I have no doubt that Roger has excellent legal representation and he will emerge from this a strong person and a revered athlete," she told the Daily News. "I wish him and his family the best."

As for the alleged affair, McCready wouldn't go into detail, only saying that she cannot deny any of the paper's accusations. Clemens' lawyer paints a different picture, confirming that the two are longtime friends, but insisting that the relationship was and is strictly platonic.

"At no time did Roger engage in any kind of inappropriate or improper relationship with her," Rusty Hardin told the Daily News.

McCready is reportedly in the middle of shooting a documentary on her attempt at a career comeback. There's no word on whether this scandal will play a part in the small-screen story.

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