Much has been made of the lack of integrity in professional sports, most recently in baseball’s Mitchell Report, with revelations of widespread use of anabolic steroids, testosterone, and growth hormone. But few reporters seem to be interested in investigating the alleged improprieties of federal investigators involved in the crusade against doping in sports.
Roger Clemens’ defamation lawsuit against former trainer Brian McNamee vaguely hints at impropriety by federal investigators, including Jeff Novitsky, during their interrogation of McNamee. There is a long trail of alleged investigative misconduct that has followed Jeff Novitsky since the beginning of the BALCO scandal.
Victor Conte has publicly shared his version of events that occurred at the BALCO raid. Conte and former vice president of BALCO, James Valente, both filed declarations in federal court containing regarding Novitsky’s behavior and tactics on the day of the raid. The allegations include “illegally coercing statements, improperly serving search warrants and using excessive force during the raid.”
Michael Rains, an attorney for Barry Bonds, claimed that Jeff Novitsky committed criminal misconduct.
Pitcher Jason Grimsley stopped short of making claims of coercion against Novitsky but changed his mind after federal investigators “wanted him to wear a wire to get evidence against Barry Bonds.”
And now, Clemens defamation lawsuit seems to suggest that the aggressive interrogation tactics and threats used by Notivsky et al may have manipulated the truth in McNamee’s allegations of Clemens’ steroid use and growth hormone use.
In spite of the lack of integrity, questionable ethics, and suspect motives that have been alleged against Jeff Novitsky, his interrogation tactics may still be perfectly legal.
However, it should be noted that baseball players aren’t the only “dirty players” in the doping game. The biggest cheaters in the entire major league baseball doping scandal may not be the ones with the balls and bats.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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