Attorney says he has evidence of wrongdoing in Bonds
probe
By Mike Fish
ESPN.com
(Updated: June 14, 2007, 8:44 PM ET
The attorney for Barry Bonds said Thursday he is
prepared to go public with information that raises
questions about the government's investigation of the
baseball star unless interim U.S. Attorney Scott
Schools takes what he deems appropriate action. A good
place to start, he suggested, would be the dismissal
of grand jury proceedings against Bonds.
Michael Rains, attorney for Bonds, declined to reveal
what evidence of potential wrongdoing he's discovered,
other than to confirm that he's provided some of the
information to Schools in at least three letters since
May. Schools has been in charge of the San Francisco
office since February when his predecessor, Kevin
Ryan, was among eight U.S. attorneys fired by Attorney
General Alberto Gonzalez in what has resulted in a
national controversy.
We've been going through all this stuff with the [San
Francisco] Chronicle people saying when grand jury
testimony gets leaked that the public has a right to
know. Well, I'll echo what they've said, 'The public
has the right to know.'
-- Michael Rains, attorney for Bonds
"The only thing I am going to tell you is the
information I supplied him was not something under any
circumstances that he could ignore,'' Rains told
ESPN.com. "I'm hoping based on his review of and
consideration of that information that we can have an
announcement before long that will be a good
announcement for Barry, anyway. And that will be that
they do not intend to proceed with an indictment.
"It is one of those things where I am not going to be
out there grandstanding if I can get him to do the
right thing. I am respectful of the process. But we've
been going through all this stuff with the [San
Francisco] Chronicle people saying when grand jury
testimony gets leaked that the public has a right to
know. Well, I'll echo what they've said, 'The public
has the right to know.' And the public has the right
to know of the information I have given to Mr.
Schools. And it has a right to know how the government
has conducted itself here and I hope the government
will engage in some dialogue with the media and the
public to discuss this.''
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in San
Francisco declined comment.
Bonds might have the same response when baseball's
steroid investigators come calling again.
While cautioning that no decision will be reached
until the legal issue is resolved, Rains said it's
increasingly unlikely of Bonds ever cooperating with
MLB's investigation of steroid use being led by former
Sen. George Mitchell.
Rains said he is disturbed by Commissioner Bud Selig's
threat to suspend New York Yankee slugger Jason
Giambi, another of the athletes tied to the BALCO
case, if he failed to cooperate with Mitchell's probe.
Rains suggested the likely grievances and legal
wrangling will serve as a test case for what Bonds
eventually might be confronted with.
"Will he talk? I don't know,'' Rains said. "One of the
things that frankly worries me more now than it ever
did before was looking at the press release when they
indicted this Kirk Radomski [former New York Mets
employee who pleaded guilty to distributing steroids
to major-league players]. I'm seeing the federal
government talking about their indictment and saying,
'Yeah, we really encourage Radomski to cooperate fully
with Mr. Mitchell.'
"My thought was that Mitchell's investigation was
proceeding independent of the feds and vice versa. And
when I see the lines blurred there it makes me wonder
whether or not Mitchell is kind of an agent of the
government or vice versa here. And to the extent that
I have no respect for and nothing but contempt for the
government, it may not take me very long to develop
the same feeling about Mr. Mitchell.''
Rains let his feelings flow about the government's
handling of the Bonds case in his correspondence with
Schools, the acting U.S. Attorney. Rains said he would
be "absolutely shocked'' if Bonds were to be indicted,
though cautioning he'd gotten no such assurances from
Schools.
Bonds' attorney said he expects Schools to seriously
consider the recent information provided him, adding
that he told him he'd go public if he didn't act on it
in a reasonable fashion. The desired response would
include a very public clearing of Bonds.
"I would like him to come out and talk about why they
have chosen not to indict Barry,'' Rains said. "I
would like that much. Knowing the way they have
operated, even this guy is terse. My guess would be
even if we see that happening he'll probably come out
through his press relations guy with some two line
letter saying, 'Scott Schools announced today that he
won't be seeking more indictments in the BALCO case.
Goodbye.' And that may be all we hear from him. At
which time, I think the public will hear from me.''
Mike Fish is an investigative reporter for ESPN.com.
He can be reached at michaeljfish@gmail.com
