BALCO mastermind Victor Conte supports the federal government request to fully dislose the witness lists and transcripts of BALCO grand jury testimony to the public as a “positive thing.” The sealed documents include thousands of pages of athlete and witness testimony, athlete lab tests, and search warrants. U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello made this request after Barry Bonds’ attorneys requested the information in preparation for the Bonds’ trial on perjury and obstruction of justice charges in March 2009 (”Feds ask for release of sealed BALCO transcripts,” November 21).

[Victor Conte] told the Daily News Thursday night that he believes there is much valuable information in the sealed documents, including lab results and other medical records that could become relevant in Bonds’ trial. “I wanted the information to be available in case of a subpoena in the Bonds trial,” Conte said. “It’s a positive thing to have it released.”

The identity of many witness in addition to their testimony has already been leaked to the press and has become public knowledge. The feds argue that the material the reasons for protecting the confidentiality of the testimony no longer exist.

“Over the last four and a half years, the involvement of most of the individuals who testified in the BALCO grand jury has become a matter of public knowledge, and several of the transcripts, including the transcript of Bonds’s own testimony, have become public by one means or another. Many of the investigations which were active in 2004 have been concluded or are no longer active,” the filing reads. “Accordingly, the need for these materials to be subject to the heightened restrictions of the original protective order no longer exists.”

Golden Gate University professor Peter Keane said the government is stating what is in reality already a foregone conclusion: “So much of this material is already out there that none of it deserves protection,” he said.

Reading the details of the grand jury testimony, should it become public, will provide additional insight into one of the largest U.S. steroid sports scandals in history. It may also prove embarrassing for the government, if it has not already, that such a large-scale, expensive investigation only resulted in a few convictions with minimal sentences, most of them not involving jail/prison. Furthermore, it might provide insight on allegations of government misconduct made by several of those indicted in the BALCO scandal which could potentially be another reason Victor Conte would favor its release.