Attorney subpoenas reporters in steroid case

May 6, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. attorney probing steroid use by professional athletes has subpoenaed the San Francisco Chronicle and two of its reporters to testify on leaks in the investigation.

In subpoenas issued on Friday, U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang demanded the newspaper turn over grand jury transcripts and that reporters name the sources of the documents, which held admissions by well-known baseball players of steroid use.

Newspaper articles in 2004 by reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, which relied in part on secret grand jury transcripts, exposed the use of steroids by elite professional athletes and led to U.S. congressional hearings on the matter.

The resulting scandal has focused attention on Barry Bonds, the star baseball slugger of the San Francisco Giants, who is close to surpassing Babe Ruth's home-run record. It also has fueled demands for more stringent drug testing in pro sports.

The demand that reporters testify in the sporting scandal case reflects a growing trend by federal prosecutors to pressure journalists to reveal their confidential sources or face contempt of court charges.

The two reporters and the paper were ordered to appear before a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday, May 11, according to court documents.

The government investigation centers on the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), a local company that distributed performance-enhancing drugs to pro athletes.

A spokesman for the Chronicle was not immediately available to comment on the government orders.

In a story on the subpoenas in the Chronicle, Executive Editor Phil Bronstein said reporters were not subject to secrecy rules governing grand jury proceedings.

"The San Francisco Chronicle unconditionally stands by its reporters in fighting this effort by the government to force them to reveal their confidential sources," Bronstein was quoted as saying. "Our reporters broke no laws, nor is the government accusing them of having done so."