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Bonds' Lawyer Michael Rains Thinks President Bush Is Behind the Push for Indictment

Posted Jul 21, 2007 10:57AM By Larry Brown (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Giants, NL West, MLB Gossip, MLB Rumors, San Francisco

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About a month ago, I told you that Barry Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, tore into the government's steroids probe of Bonds. I also just noted that there was a New York Daily News report suggesting the grand jury was close to indicting Bonds. Recently, Rains has even called the investigation a "witch hunt." Now, Rains has taken that a step further, suggesting President Bush is behind the push for indictment:

"This investigation is based on the political considerations of this (presidential) administration," Rains told the Mercury News on Friday. "The Balco case is a legacy of Bush, and it is a catastrophic failure - legally and from a public-relations standpoint."

Rains said he believed the ultimate call to indict would be made by no less than the president, who directed a massive shake-up of the Justice Department earlier this year under embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

"Barry and I have talked about it, and he can't believe it," Rains said. "I think it's possible, I really do. The case has been so political.

"The question is how they can throw in the towel without losing an immense amount of face after all they have done."

Wow, that is quite the charge by Rains. But that shouldn't be a huge surprise, after all, his job is to defend Barry. Earlier in the week I wrote about President Bush's interview with Karl Ravech on ESPN. When asked what how he would treat the Barry Bonds situation if he were Bud Selig, Bush was non-committal:


You know, it's hard for me to tell. Again, I know there's a lot of implications, my advice is for people just to wait and see what the facts are.
PostmanE posted the video of President Bush's interview for you to check out. Hmm, Bud Selig has been non-committal, President Bush was non-committal, and now there's a report that an indictment is soon to come. Just a hunch, but Rains could be onto something. After all, Bush is a baseball fan, and he thinks steroids have clouded the game. It wouldn't be too surprising to see him try and do something about it -- he certainly has the power to.

Previously at FanHouse:
Barry Bonds' Lawyer Attacks the Government's Steroids Probe
President Bush: Steroids Have Clouded Baseball, Would Wait and See With Bonds
President Bush Knows Baseball

Tags: barry+bonds, BarryBonds, bud+selig, BudSelig, george+w.+bush, GeorgeW.Bush, karl+ravech, KarlRavech, michael+rains, MichaelRains, president+bush, PresidentBush

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