Who Leaked In The BALCO Case?

Via Instapundit, I found this post at CrimProfBlog that does some extensive detective work to determine who leaked grand jury testimony in the BALCO probe:

The defense attorneys and the defendants might have had an incentive to leak, since Bonds denied knowledge that the substances were steriods and said that he didn't think the BALCO defendant from whom he received the substances would have provided him with illegal steriods. It seems perhaps unlikely that one of the defense attorneys leaked the information, however, because leaking secret grand jury evidence to the media, and then moving to dismiss charges by blaming the government for the same leak, is a high risk venture that would take serious moxy if not insanity. Too much to lose, not enough to gain.

Ultimately, the Prof speculates that the leaker was either one of the defense attorneys or some other government employee who might have come into contact with the documents at one point or another.

Here's TalkLeft with an interesting tidbit:

Under federal law, only prosecutors, case agents, government and court employees and others on that side of the fence are prohibited from disclosing matters that occur before the grand jury. The defense is under no such prohibition. If a person associated with the defense had been the source, there would be no federal secrecy provision for the Chronicle to consider enforcing.

Which would point the finger for the leaks directly at the government. But what else do we know, and what have we seen? Well, we know that BALCO founder Victor Conte hasn't exactly been shy with the media over the past few months. In addition, when Marion Jones responded to some of the charges leveled by Conte and taken from the grand jury testimony, her attorney, Rich Nichols, had this to say:

Conte, who faces charges of steroid distribution and money laundering, said this month in a U.S. television interview and article that he had supplied steroids to top athletes including Jones.

Her lawyer wants Conte to answer whether he ever saw her take performance-enhancing drugs and if he had leaked any grand jury testimony.

"It is easy to go on national television and, as the lawsuit states, make 'false, 'malicious' and 'misleading' statements designed to do harm to Ms. Jones' character and reputation," Nichols said. "However, it is quite another matter to take a polygraph examination that will test whether one is a truthful person or an untruthful person who engages in deception."

Something to think about. More later, if warranted.

POSTSCRIPT: Be sure to read the whole post at CrimProfBlog, including a comment from Bob Tufts, a former Major League pitcher who may have had his career unfairly derailed by MLB's Cocaine scandal in the mid-1980s.

Eric 12:30 PM

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That bastion of journalism, the San Francisco Chronicle, graced the front page of its sports section with a melon-sized photo of Barry Bonds, including, of course, his near-melon-sized head. The prose has been re-ordered somewhat in the online version,... [Read More]

Tracked on March 5, 2005 09:20 PM

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