BALCO Leaker Exposed

It turns out that the person leaking Grand Jury testimony in the BALCO investigation was the defense attorney for Victor Conte:

Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters will avoid jail time under a plea agreement by a criminal defense lawyer who admitted leaking them secret grand jury documents from the BALCO steroids investigation.

In court papers filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, attorney Troy Ellerman said he allowed reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada to view transcripts of the grand jury testimony of baseball stars Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and sprinter Tim Montgomery.

Ellerman had represented Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, the Burlingame supplements lab that allegedly provided performance enhancing drugs to the elite athletes, as well as BALCO vice president James Valente.

The Chronicle published stories in 2004 that reported Giambi and Montgomery admitted to the grand jury that they took steroids, while Bonds and Sheffield testified they didn't knowingly take the drugs. The leaked testimony also was featured prominently in the writers' book, "Game of Shadows," which recounts Bonds' alleged use of steroids.

So let me get this straight - Conte and BALCO sought to profit by making and selling steroid products that wouldn't be found in normal drug tests; Bonds, Giambi, Sheffield and others took the steroids in order to cheat their way into big money contracts; Ellerman leaked the testimony from the Grand Jury in order to try and cheat the judicial system by getting cases against his clients thrown out because of the leaks; and finally the San Francisco Chronicle reporters cheated by taking what they knew to be illegally offered testimony just so that could "scoop" their competition and sell a book.

Explain to me how the cheating and law bending by reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada is any different than the cheating by Jason Giambi? While you are at it - explain to me how what reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada did was any different than a fence receiving goods he knows to be stolen.

It could turn out that out of this whole sordid affair - Jason Giambi may be the one who acted with the most honor. And that's saying something.

HT Baseball Musings