Sunday, July 22, 2007

Feds 3, U.S. Sports 0


Hard to believe, but the three biggest stories in sports this week came out of Federal prosecutors' offices.

It started with the indictment against Michael Vick, then moved on to the investigation of NBA referee and soon-to-be Witness Protection program member Tim Donaghy.

And now this.

The grand jury investigating Barry Bonds has been extended for another six months, several sources familiar with the government's case have told the Daily News, and the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco is confident it will have enough evidence to secure an indictment once it resumes in September.

"They seem to feel they have a strong case," said one source, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Man, this one smells. And not because of Barry Bonds.

Look, everyone knows Bonds is being investigated for tax evasion and perjury as part of the BALCO case.

But what's despicable is the flurry of "anonymous" sources leaking the prospective future outcome of a grand jury when Bonds is just two home runs shy of the record.

Now that's timing.

There's a reason these sources are speaking anonymously. Leaking information about a grand jury investigation is illegal.

As illegal as what Bonds is being accused of.

So all you or I will see said on the record is this:
The U.S. Attorney's office would not comment, with officials saying they legally cannot confirm or deny the existence of a sitting grand jury.
What utter crap.

Here's the truth. Someone in the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco, for whatever reason, is unhappy Barry Bonds is about to break the home run record and is using his or her powers to further taint Bonds just before he breaks it.

So they leaked information about a grand jury.

They broke the law.

Bonds' lawyer believes the whole Bonds grand jury is political, designed to crucify the slugger in order to get President Bush some positive press coverage. Absent more information, I can't speak to that.

But something is terribly wrong when the federal government decides to inject itself into a MLB home run record chase.

Maybe Bonds surpassing Hank Aaron offends you. But what the Feds are doing? That should scare you.
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6 comments:

  1. Great point on the leaked testimony. I have pounded that point over and over for years during this whole Balco Mess. Giambi was ripped apart over his testimony that was ILLEGALLY leaked.

    I was watching Sheffield's interview on Real Sports and andrea cramer was asking him questions about his illegal leaked testimony! Too bad the Feds do not investigate their illegal leaks in their own US Attorney offices as much as they do on this gotcha witch hunt on Barry Bonds. I guess it does not matter, GW Bush would either promote or pardon them anyway.
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  2. Or try to fire them....Oops!
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  3. They can indict a ham sandwich, but they can't indict Bonds.
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  4. I hate to burst your bubble, but it is not illegal to publish the fact that a Grand Jury's duration is extended. That is public information. What is illegal is to publish information that was presented to a Grand Jury. It is also not illegal for a representative of the US Attorney's office to express an opinion about how strong a case is even while it is before the Grand Jury. Unfortunately, Grand Juries are the tools of the US Attorney's office, and if the US Attorney wants to indict, the Grand Jury will do it. But I am not shedding any tears for Barry Bonds.
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  5. Great post.

    I absolutely hate that the government is wasting my tax dollars on this.

    It's absolutely despicable.
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  6. Well anonymous, you might want to tell that to the the U.S. Attorney's office who, "would not comment, with officials saying they legally cannot confirm or deny the existence of a sitting grand jury."

    Further, this post was written about the illegality of comments made regarding the extension. To edify you, Anon:

    Partial text of Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which establishes rules for grand jury secrecy.

    "Recording and Disclosure of Proceedings.

    ...(2) General Rule of Secrecy. A grand juror, an interpreter, a stenographer, an operator of a recording device, a typist who transcribes recorded testimony, an attorney for the government, or any person to whom disclosure is made under paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of this subdivision shall not disclose matters occurring before the grand jury..."

    So, sorry but my little bubble remains intact. (Why am I not surprised you go nameless?)

    And yes, grand juries almost always do the bidding of the US Attorneys. Which makes it all the more interesting to note that Barry Bonds has hit 95 home runs since this grand jury started in 2003.

    Nearly four years - four years - and the Feds haven't secured an indictment against him. Too busy leaking to the media, I guess, to get around to it.
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Try to play nice with each other, or else I will remove your comment.

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