The Mitchell proceedings

Selig, Fehr, and Mitchell testify today. Let the games begin. But I will once again point out that the U.S. government is bringing it's full weight and power against two individuals for allegedly using illegal substances to enhance their ability to play baseball. Now, I never liked Clemens. Like a lot of Yankee fans we rooted for him in pinstripes and we wanted him to win because we wanted the team to win. But we winced when the Yankees signed him and winced more at his antics.

That said, the Dept of Justice compelled the man's former trainer to finger his boss. The DoJ, unable to prove McNamee's insertions, instead compelled him to talk to Mitchell's investigators. So, the DoJ is letting Mitchell and Congress to bring the charges the DoJ, for all of its investigative powers, wouldn't.

Technically, the deals requiring McNamee and Radomski to cooperate with Mitchell probably don't violate grand jury secrecy laws, because those laws bind prosecutors, agents, and grand jurors, but not witnesses like McNamee and Radomski. And technically, those deals might not have violated DoJ policy on uncharged third parties, inasmuch as Clemens and other players weren't actually named in official filings or in a federal courtroom. But using plea bargaining leverage to require witnesses to divulge to Mitchell the names of people the Justice Department never intended to prosecute surely violated the purposes of both grand jury secrecy law and DoJ policy.

With the authority granted prosecutors to make life-altering accusations goes the obligation to prove them. Here, the U.S. Attorney's Office made no individual assessment of the strength of the allegations by Radomski and McNamee against dozens of players. It never winnowed the provable cases from the mere rumors or unprovable assertions. Instead, prosecutors forced flipped witnesses to reveal everything they knew or had heard to Mitchell and walked away from the responsibility to prove any of it.

Don't know about you, but that bothers me.