According to an ESPN report, Barry Bonds’ attorney, Michael Rains, says he has evidence of misconduct on the part of government personnel investigating Bonds. Rains says he will come forward with that information if the government does not dismiss the grand jury, ceasing its investigation of Bonds.
Rains has sent at least some of that information to Scott Schools, in at least 3 letters since May. Schools has reportedly responded to Rains but neither side has discussed the details of that dialogue.
“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… 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.”
In September 2006, Rains went public saying that he had evidence that the leaked BALCO documents came from within the government. He said then that he would go public with that information if the government did not “ferret out the wrongdoing on their own.”
“I have a pretty damn good idea of who (leaked confidential BALCO information)… and I have a pretty damn good idea that it is someone whose paycheck looks a lot like the people who are conducting the grand jury to determine who it is. Meaning, it is somebody who is employed by the federal government.”
Even after Troy Ellerman admitted leaking the documents in February 2007, Rains requested in a 5-page letter to the federal prosecutor’s office that the government continue its investigation into who had revealed the documents and testimony. Rains again claimed he had evidence that at least some of the information had to have come from a government source. Rains has yet to come forward with this information.
There is no indication at this point as to whether or not the information Rains has now is related to his information implicating a government source in the leaks.
Rains likened his current situation (that of having powerful information) to that of San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada having the BALCO documents.
“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.”
If Rains is so adamant that the public deserves to know, and that the information would clear Bonds, why not just go public now? It seems Rains not only wants the government to cease its investigation of Bonds, but wants the government to issue some type of public statement clearing Bonds’ name.
“I would like him to come out and talk about why they have chosen not to indict Barry. 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.”