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Congressman calls for probe into handling of BALCO case
By ELLIOTT ALMOND
San Jose Mercury News
Sep. 17, 2004
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A Michigan congressman Thursday called for an
investigation into the Justice Department's handling of the Balco
Laboratories case because authorities worked with a non-governmental
agency that oversees drug testing of American athletes.
In a move that could signal the beginning of an examination of the
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Democrat John Conyers asked a federal
officer to investigate "possible violations of the Fourth
Amendment," according to a letter dated Sept. 16.
Conyers' staff e-mailed a copy of the letter to the San Jose Mercury
News. The letter, addressed to Justice Department Inspector General
Glenn Fine, conveyed concern that the anti-doping agency
participated in the federal investigation into Balco, a Burlingame
nutrition company owned by Victor Conte Jr. In February, the
government charged Conte and three other Bay Area men with
distributing illegal performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes
from baseball, football and track and field.
All four pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in San Francisco.
Larry Bowers, the anti-doping agency's senior managing director,
assisted federal and San Mateo County Task Force agents on a raid of
Balco last September. Jeff Novitzky, the case's lead investigator,
also said in public documents that he consulted with the anti-doping
agency as well as the chief of UCLA's drug-testing lab. The head of
the UCLA lab last year created a test for the previously
undetectable steroid THG, the designer drug at the heart of the
Balco case.
In his letter, Conyers asked the inspector general to:
Determine the nature of the anti-doping agency's involvement in the
criminal investigation and what documents it received.
Determine why federal agents did not use a government facility to
analyze lab reports and materials taken during the raid of Balco.
(Some materials obtained during the 18-month investigation were
analyzed by a San Mateo County Sheriff forensic laboratory and the
Drug Enforcement Agency lab in San Francisco.)
Determine if the Justice Department sought a government lab for
analysis to confirm UCLA's findings that THG is an anabolic steroid.
And if not, why?
Conyers wrote that his staff received information revealing the
Justice Department actions violated law and department policy. Lead
prosecutor Jeff Nedrow did not immediately return a phone call.
"If this is true, it appears that DOJ and USADA have engaged in a
conspiracy to deny due process and fairness of athletes associated
with the Balco investigation," Conyers wrote.
An anti-doping agency spokesman declined to comment.
Drug-cheats investigation runs into trouble
Mihir Bose
Telegraph
sport.telegraph.co.uk
23/09/2004
There is concern in the United States that the investigation
into BALCO that has unearthed so many drug cheats, including
Britain's Dwain Chambers, may grind to a halt.
This follows a call by John Conyers, a Democratic Congressman
from Michigan, for the US Justice Department to investigate
how the BALCO case has been handled – in particular the
involvement of the non-governmental United States Anti-Doping
Agency – and the possibility that constitutional rights
covering searches and seizure of property were violated.
Larry Bowers, a senior USADA official, assisted federal and
county task force agents on a raid of BALCO, the San Francisco
nutritional company, last September. Jeff Novitzky, the case's
head investigator from the Internal Revenue Service, consulted
the agency and Don Catlin, the head of their drug-testing lab,
who created a test for the 'designer steroid' THG.
It was following such collaboration that BALCO owner Victor
Conte Jnr and three others were charged with distributing
illegal performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes from
track and field, American football and baseball. All four deny
the charge.
In his letter to the Justice Department, which was obtained by
the San Jose Mercury News, congressman Conyers says the
collaboration could have violated both the department's own
policy and the US Constitution's Fourth Amendment involving
searches and seizures.
Conyers wants the department to determine the nature of
USADA's involvement in the criminal investigation and what
documents they received; and why federal agents did not use a
government facility to analyse lab reports and materials taken
during the BALCO raid and to confirm findings that THG is an
anabolic steroid.
He says that if the use of a non-governmental body is true
then "it appears that DOJ and USADA have engaged in a
conspiracy to deny due process and fairness of athletes
associated with the BALCO investigation".
Elliott Almond, the reporter who broke the story, told me:
"You never know what happens when you start to turn over the
stones. It could lead to the whole case collapsing."
One feature of the BALCO investigation is that nearly all the
athletes being charged are black. Conyers is a member of the
black caucus in the US Congress and, while race is not
mentioned in his letter, there seems to be a subtext.
Meanwhile, US government lawyers are targeting reporters who
have revealed secret grand jury testimony in the case. Almond
and a fellow reporter have both received letters from the US
Attorney's office asking them to identify their sources.
Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Nedrow said: "We believe … that
you have improperly received copies of investigative reports
which were disclosed to the defence only for the purpose of
trial preparation."
Susan Goldberg, the Mercury's news executive editor, said: "We
respectfully declined to turn over any information to them."
The San Francisco Chronicle has also been feeling the heat.
Phil Bronstein, executive editor, says in a memo that two
reporters have received letters from the local US Attorney's
office requesting that they hand over documents they received
from confidential sources in the BALCO case. In each
situation, says Bronstein, "the northern district US
Attorney's office is stating that the sources who provided
those documents to our reporters did so illegally or in
violation of a court order".
Newspapers can be fined up to $1,000 (about £560) a day for
resisting such rulings and reporters face jail if they refuse
to respond to subpoenas demanding that they give up their
sources.
In his memo, Bronstein's advice to his reporters is that if
they get a call "from a law enforcement official at any level,
please do not offer even what seems like the most innocuous
comment; you should instead immediately tell your supervisor,
who will make sure our newsroom counsel gets involved".
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
