If the federal government decides to indict Barry Bonds, it will have a hard time convicting his client, attorney Michael Rains told The New York Daily News for Sunday's editions.
Michael Rains
"I'll outmaneuver them at every turn," Rains told the newspaper Saturday night. "I've kicked their ass in private, I'll continue to kick their ass in public."
A federal grand jury investigating Barry Bonds has been extended for another six months, and the U.S. Attorney's office is confident it will have enough evidence to secure an indictment of the San Francisco Giants slugger this fall, The Daily News reported Saturday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the government's case.
Rains told the newspaper that he has given prosecutors secret evidence -- the nature of which he wouldn't disclose -- that should have ended their pursuit of charges against Bonds.
Rains told the newspaper that the government wouldn't allow Bonds to look at evidence before his testimony in the 2003 BALCO case, even though it promised to do so. Other players were allowed to look at evidence that mentioned them before their testimony, Rains claims.
The lawyer told the newspaper that he believes the government didn't let Bonds look at the evidence because it wanted him to slip up in his testimony.
"It was a perjury trap," Rains told The Daily News.
On Friday, Rains told The San Jose Mercury News that he believes that the final decision on whether to indict Bonds will come from President Bush himself.
"This investigation is based on the political considerations of this [presidential] administration," Rains told the Mercury News. "The BALCO case is a legacy of Bush, and it is a catastrophic failure -- legally and from a public-relations standpoint."
Bonds, however, said he is unfazed by the threat of an indictment.
"Do I look concerned?" Bonds asked a small group of reporters by his locker Saturday before the Giants faced the Milwaukee Brewers. "You guys just want more stories about me. It's unreal."
Bonds is on the verge of tying and breaking Henry Aaron's career home run record of 755 home runs. He stood at 753, needing two homers to tie the record and three to break it as after Sunday's action. The grand jury sitting in San Francisco has been investigating Bonds for perjury, and the newspaper reported it has been told it will not convene again until September.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
